


Hold on

by OUATgirl



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Gay Relationship, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, I can't believe we can tag it like this now, Idiots in Love, LITERALLY, Slow Burn, TWO IDIOTS, head over heels with each other, that's all it is, tiny bit of angst every now and then
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-09-14 07:57:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 26,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16909170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OUATgirl/pseuds/OUATgirl
Summary: After their famous duel in 1945, Albus Dumbledore decides to give his old friend another chance. Instead of being held in Nurmengard, Gellert Grindelwald will serve his time under the watchful eyes of the new hero of the wizarding world. But Albus cannot plan everything,and things might be more difficult than he anticipated





	1. Complicated

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm finally joining this fandom! This is my first Grindeldore fic, so it's my baby, and I'm very proud of it. Also, a huge thanks to Nina, who is absolutely amazing for putting up with all my indecision and beta reading the messy first draft.  
> Find her on tumblr @dreamerinthedark, and find me @thefantasticsuperouatgirl  
> I hope you enjoy ;-)

There was something slightly off about Nurmengard. Albus certainly preferred it to Azkaban and it’s dementors, but something about it got his hair on end. The (very human) guard took him and the ministry escorts to the far tower, through hushed whispers and mad screams of defeated followers from the cells they passed. And at the top, they found him.

Gellert Grindelwald’s pale skin stretched over his bones, his healthy slim figure now a sickly hunched silhouette. But his face… now that was a whole other story: his hair had grown to his shoulders, a few rebel strands dangling over his lighter eye, that closed in a wink to go with the smirk painted across his lips at the sight of his visitors.

He stood in the middle of his cell, with five wands pointed at him, as the wards around him were taken down. Stepping out at the guards’ order, he looked at Albus:

              - You’ve gone soft with age, mein Schatz. The boy I once knew would’ve left me to rot for more than six months for the-

              - The greater good? I don’t think so, that’s more your department. But do not worry, old friend, our ideals might’ve strayed apart, but I have no intention of letting you off the proverbial hook.

Gellert didn’t answer, and Albus watched the aurors restraining him in a carriage before sitting in his own. Taking a deep breath, Albus rubbed his eyes and tried to calm himself, this was going to be more complicated than he thought.

Albus only saw Gellert again in the ministry’s court room. For a man in chains, he seemed quite confident. In fact, he seemed to be the only person who _wanted_ to be in that room, though anything had to be better than a moldy cell in the middle of nowhere.

Gellert had always enjoyed people-watching (yet another striking resemblance between them) and he seemed to be reveling in it at the moment. Albus followed his gaze up to the gallery, where a crowd began to gather. A few reporters, some visitors, and an outrageous amount of aurors, all of them sharing the same expression, the same apprehension, almost fear. Gellert seemed to like that, as he did when they collectively flinched at his barest movement.

Albus didn’t speak. He didn’t have to, and frankly, at this point, he didn’t want to. But the decision had been made long before they dragged Gellert from his prison. So, he watched his reaction. The German stood blank faced, listening to it all: the confinement in Hogwarts, the prohibition of magic, and the marvellous vote of confidence being given to him as a favour to ‘the hero of the wizarding world’ (Albus forced himself not to grimace at that particular one). And then they got to the bond:

              - As you will be bound to Mr. Dumbledore through a blood bond, preventing you to use any kind of magic, move outside of established limits, or perform any acts that may endanger or disagree with him, at the cost of your physical integrity.

Gellert’s eyes shifted to Albus, his brow slightly furrowed in surprise, maybe? The ministry official terminated the session and the gallery applauded. Gellert was moved away, and Albus got up, apparating just outside of Hogwarts’ grounds before anyone could come up to him with uncomfortable questions. Yes, very complicated, indeed.

\-------------

The chains were uncomfortable, yes. But not nearly as excruciating as as not having magic. Gellert felt an ich under his skin, as if something was missing. So, despite his best efforts, he couldn’t find it in him to complain about whatever spell Albus was using: the shiver running down his spine, the trickling electricity across his fingertips, too much like his own magic to actually be unpleasant. That is, until the burning started. He looked down at his wrists to see swirling red lines wrapped around them, burned through his skin. The same sharp pain over his collar bone got him to slightly wince. Not his proudest moment, but it got Albus to take his eyes off their joint hands and look at him with something dangerously close to worry. The repeated sting in his skin told him something he should’ve realized from the start. Whatever Albus was doing was dark magic. Old, dark, complicated, and undoubtedly illegal magic.

                - It is. - he said, barely loud enough for even Gellert to hear.

Of course Albus was a skilled legillimens, and of course he’d never miss a chance to gloat. Gellert decided to make the best of it: _“do they know, or was it a special request?”_

Albus shrugged.

_I knew you still had it in you_ _, mein Schatz._

Albus seemed to smirk, though it could be that Gellert’s mind was simply playing tricks on him. One last sting, and the spell seemed to be finished.

Albus urged him to raise his wrists, and the Aurors seemed to like what they saw, because they turned to leave without a word. Gellert could feel as they left school grounds and Disapparated, as his restraints left with them, and he could finally look around the room. Albus’ office wasn’t big, and most of the walls were covered with bookshelves full of leather-bound volumes and buzzing silvery instruments. The far wall was free, so to speak, since it was covered in pictures of Albus smiling and shaking hands with all the influent names of the last three decades, diplomas, and the occasional framed newspaper clip of a famous student. The desk was cluttered with stacks of parchment, and school books, like any professor would have. In fact, Albus’ office was so ordinary, Gellert was almost disappointed:

                - No family portraits?

Albus didn’t answer, instead he sat by his desk and gestured at the chair across from him:

                - Have a sit, Gellert.

He did. Not that he had a lot of options at this point.

                - That’s not true. You have every ounce of free will that you’ve ever had. All you’re forbidden to do is perform magic of any kind.

                - And leave the school grounds, and do anything against your will, or seen as a move against you. Not to mention the small inconvenient of you poking around in my head at all hours. I have to hand it to you, Albus, I never expected to end up as your lapdog.

                - I apologise for intruding in your mind. But, Gellert, you must understand, this isn’t punishment. In fact, I believe we can rehabilitate you in some way. I know you, you have a brilliant mind and-

                - And I won’t change it. Whatever “rehabilitation” you have in mind won’t change the fact that I’m right, Albus. And you used to agree with me. - he ignored the sudden burning in his collar bone- what happened to the boy who wanted the world at his feet? We can still have that, together.

For a moment, Albus’ eyes shined with an all too familiar glow that Gellert hadn’t seen since a long-lost summer. In a dark room, after their last fight, right before Gellert turned away for the last time. Not quite anger, not quite sadness, something in between. And no matter how unaffected Gellert seemed on the outside, that look never failed to make his heart sink.

Albus cleared his throat:

                - I believe I ought to show you the school grounds, shall we?


	2. Adjusting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again ;-)  
> This chapter was done with a lot of love and quite some help  
> Thanks again to Nina, my wonderful beta reader <3  
> My Tumblr : @thefantasticsuperouatgirl  
> Her Tumblr :@dreamerinthedark

The first night was... Interesting. Albus had shown Gellert around the castle, and he had to say, it was interesting. Their rooms were conveniently linked (and no matter how nicer his room was than he was expecting, he still hated it), with the office between them, which meant he didn’t have to parade around the castle. Albus, who, infuriatingly enough, didn’t seem bothered by his sulking, left for a meeting or a class, or something (Gellert wasn’t really listening) and he decided to explore said office: the books were, as expected, completely ordinary, and utterly useless, since none of them seemed to mention any kind of blood magic. One of the the cabinets was slightly different from the others. With wooden doors instead of clear glass, and an intricate lock. He walked up to it, and tried to open it, only to have his collar bone burning again. What was with that damned burning. He walked to his room and stripped of his shirt, standing in front of the mirror.

“Oh, you have got to be joking”

Over his collarbone rested an open winged Phoenix, etched in his skin in red and gold, like... like a brand. Albus had branded him.

“That self-righteous bastard”

He marched out into the office, his shirt still crumpled in his hand, and was met with the agonizing truth that there was nothing he could do. Albus was away, and he didn’t really feel like walking around the school, looking for him. During his “tour”, they’d found some of the teachers, who, understandably, weren’t very pleased to see him, and he didn’t feel like repeating the experience. So, he sat down by the desk. Picking up a book, he decided he’d yell at Albus a bit later. And didn’t even notice falling asleep.

\----------------

Albus opened the door to his office and almost dropped the tray. After dinner and an impromptu meeting regarding his “somewhat dangerous decisions“, he’d expected a lot, including the possibility that he’d walk into his office and find it in flames. What he did not expect was to find a shirtless Gellert asleep in his chair. He closed the door behind him as softly as he could, but it clicked nonetheless, and Gellert stirred awake.

“Getting comfortable, I see.”

“Shut up.” The blond grumbled, and stretched. And that’s when Albus saw it. A beautiful, and very realistic phoenix, drawn in curly lines of fiery red.

“What is that?” he asked slowly.

“ Precisely what I wanted to ask you. Do I look like cattle to you? Why would you draw a phoenix of all things? I mean, I’m all for irony but this is ridiculous.”

“ I did that?”

“ Yes, with your oh so special spell that isn’t in any book.”

“You went looking for it.”

  “That” Gellert pointed an accusatory finger at him “is not the point. Wait a minute…You really didn’t know?”

“Well, in my defence I had to translate the spell from Sanskrit.”

“Defend yourself all you want, just take this thing off of me!”

“I’m afraid that can’t happen.”

“What?”

“If it’s part of your…restraints, then it has to stay.”

“You bastard. You smug, self-righteous bastard”

“This bastard brought you dinner” Albus nodded at the tray “That I’m sure it’s a lot better than whatever they serve at Nurmengard.”

 “I’m not hungry.”

Gellert stormed off into his room and slammed the door in a way Albus knew all too well. One did not spend more than two weeks with him without being exposed to his tantrums. Albus set the tray in the small table by the door and left for his own room. He was almost certain he heard someone predictably open the door outside a few hours later.

\--------------

The first week went a lot like that. Gellert stayed in his room, only going to the office when he was certain Albus had left. Three meals were brought to his room everyday: sometimes, mostly in the morning, house elves brought the food in, but it was mostly Albus who left it by the door with a note on where to find him if Gellert needed anything.

He spent his days searching for whatever kind of spell Albus had used on him but came up short. And just as he was thinking about taking a walk through the school grounds, the cold November rain decided to join the party. So, on a rainy Saturday, out of options, and frankly sick of no human interaction, Gellert finally decided to talk to Albus. He opened the door to the office, and almost shut it back at hearing the other man’s comment:

“ Well, look who decided to show up. Lunch is not for another hour.”

Gellert took a deep breath before answering:

“I know that.” He sat across from Albus, who seemed to be grading papers. “It has come to my attention that I may have been… unpleasant throughout this week.”

“Really? Hadn’t noticed.”

“The point is, I’m... sorry”

“Excuse me? I don’t think I caught that.”

“ Albus, don’t push it.”

“Well, apology accepted, then.”

“ I do need to ask you something, actually.”

“I knew it. Too good to be true.”

Gellert decided to ignore the comment , and the slight smirk that passed through Albus’ lips.

“ I've heard that the Hogwarts library is impressive”

“It is a wonderful place, yes. I showed it to you on your first day here, didn’t I?”

“You did. And I was wondering. That restricted section... “

“Is as restricted to you as it is to every student, and before you ask, the spell for the blood bond is not in any book anywhere in the school. “

“ I wasn’t going to ask. “

Albus looked up at him, eyebrow raised, and said nothing. Gellert took the seat across from him:

“ What are you doing anyway? “

“I’m correcting my students’ homework.”

Gellert sneaked a peek at the title of one of the pages:

“Transfiguration? Hm, I took you for a defense against the dark arts teacher.”

“I was, but I was... transferred.”

“Ohh! Whatever did you do?”

“Met you as a teenager”

“Oh.“

Albus went back to his essays, and Gellert picked one up. Albus followed his movement with a wary expression.

“What? It’s a harmless piece of paper, Albus.”

He read the first few lines before realizing there was a quill extended towards him. Albus smiled:

“If you’re going to read them, you might as well make yourself useful. And don’t be hard on them, they’re first years.”

“Really? You’re a softie. It’s because of teachers like you that most of these students can’t even survive by themselves.”

“I was a Hogwarts student. And I believe I handled my problems quite well.”

“Well, Albus, I’d argue you hardly fit with ‘the most’”

Albus snorted:

“Get to it”

 


	3. Talking it out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, the biggest thank you to Nina! <3  
> She really makes sure this is readable, instead of a weird mess ;-)  
> This chapter is a bit longer than the others, but I hope you like it  
> My Tumblr :@thefantasticsuperouatgirl  
> Nina's Tumblr : @dreamerinthedark

It is surprising how much you can learn from someone by their relaxed moments. Gellert had always liked to observe people, and once upon a time, Albus was his more often chosen object of interest. Now, he was simply watching him, his own work forgotten by his side, completely mesmerized by the other man’s contempt. Albus behaved as if there was nothing in the world that he wanted to do more than correct the ramblings of eleven-year olds.  
He finished grading another one and set it atop the others in a neat pile, he looked up, and Gellert looked back to the paper he was supposed to be correcting. He didn’t get very far though:  
“Speaking of that faithful day, did you keep it?”  
“What?”  
“You know what I’m talking about. It belongs to you now. Did you keep it?”  
Albus looked up at him:  
“I did.”  
Gellert couldn’t repress the smile blooming in his lips:  
“Have you used it yet?”  
“No, and I have no intention to.  
“Liar”  
“I beg your pardon?”  
“You heard me” Gellert leaned in and spoke slowly “Liar!” He leaned back in his chair “I bet you can’t wait to give it a try. And it is something, let me tell you: The raw power coursing through you. No words needed, the wand as an extension of your very essence… It’s marvellous. But you’re scared. You’ve always been scared of getting caught doing something just off the side of commendable.”  
“Gellert, has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?” Albus rolled his eyes.  
“Not to my face, no.”  
“Glad to be the first at it, then.”  
“Oh, Albus, you were the first at a lot of things.”  
Albus opened his mouth to say something but seemed to give up mid-thought. And they went back to their work for a while.  
“Merlin, this can’t be happening.” Gellert blurted out after a bit.  
Albus’ eyes snapped up:  
“What is it?”  
“Either these children are immensely dumb, or you’re just a horrible teacher.”  
Albus rolled his eyes at him and held out his hand:  
“It can’t be that bad.”  
“Paragraph two, second line. Whatever kind of spell you’re working on right now, I assure you a handstand is not necessary. “  
“Yes, this is Nicholas Miller’s paper, he has a reputation as class clown.”  
“Figures. I don’t know how you do this. Clearly, I wasn’t made for teaching. I mean give me a room of students and an hour and I can make them worship the textbook, but this?” he gestured at Albus’ desk “This is torture.”  
Albus rolled his eyes (a fairly common move these days) and wrote Miller a lengthy note rolling it up by the rest of the papers.  
“I don’t understand, Albus”  
“What?”  
You’re fine, here. It’s like you want to be just this. What happened to you? You wanted the world. “  
“We both did. “  
“Mind you, I still do, but you... “  
“I grew up, Gellert”  
“See. That’s the thing, I don’t think you can grow up from that, I saw you, I know you that spark doesn’t just disappear into thin air.”  
“Your influence was certainly a factor.”  
Gellert couldn’t help to laugh:  
“Is that what you’ve been telling everyone? _That I influenced you?_  
“Is it not the truth?”  
“The truth. The truth is that you can hate me if you want. You can tell everyone how I twisted your mind and changed your view of the world. How I cheated you into joining me, but I know, Albus. I know that all that beautiful, beautiful darkness was there long before I ever step foot in Godric’s Hollow.”  
Albus stood quiet for a moment, then he got up:  
“I have a meeting”  
“Coward” Gellert spat out.  
\--------------  
It was Saturday. Albus didn’t have any kind of meeting. Gellert knew that. And Albus knew Gellert knew that. Nonetheless, he waited about an hour before going back to his office, only to find it empty.  
“Gellert?”  
He found a note scribbled in neat handwriting: _went for a walk_  
A wonderful idea, undoubtedly. In all honesty, Albus was exhausted. In all his years of teaching, he’d never had a more tiring week than the last. No matter how little he had seen Gellert over the past few days, it had been different from being alone. On more than one occasion, he’d stayed behind a little longer to see if they could talk, but Gellert hadn’t even opened his bedroom door. A door that was now uncharacteristically wide open.    
Albus told himself he was checking if Gellert wasn’t doing anything dangerous, and let himself in.   
The room was exactly how it had been right after Albus set it up. Almost as if Gellert had never been there. The only difference was a small stack of sketches by the bed. The room, the view from the window, a small detail on the etched mirror, all impeccably drawn by steady hands. Albus had almost forgotten his friend’s gift for art.  
He walked towards the window. The sun was setting, the reddish light filtered by the trees in the forbidden forest creating funny shapes in the castle walls. And then he saw a figure. A man leaned against the balcony in the astronomy tower. Long blond hair swept back by the wind, head tilted back, and eyes closed, as if absorbing the sunlight. Albus decided to join him. Gellert had a thing for window ledges and they needed to talk anyway.  
By the time he got to the tower, the sky was tinted pink, and Gellert childishly sitting on the ledge, feet dangling:  
“It’s a beautiful view.” He said, without looking back to Albus.  
“It is. I’ve seen it every day for the past thirty years and it still amazes me.”  
Albus leaned against the ledge, and Gellert looked at him, his mismatched eyes locked on him with a familiar intensity:  
“I have a question.”  
“Go ahead”  
“Back then…if Ariana hadn’t…if the fight hadn’t happened...would you have come with me?  
“Would you have stayed?”  
“It’s not the same, Albus.”  
“It is. We both made a choice that day, Gellert. You were right, we both agreed to pursue the hallows. But after you left, I… forgot that part of me.”  
“Maybe if I had too, we wouldn’t be in this mess, is that what you mean?”  
“Maybe”  
Gellert’s gaze shifted back to the setting sun:  
“It was her favourite time of the day.”  
“How did you -”  
“I pay attention, Albus. Ariana was a sweet girl. I never meant for anything to happen to her. To any of you. It was all- “  
“Collateral damage?”  
Gellert turned to him, almost…hurt?  
“an accident.” He said, “A stupid accident.”  
He got down from the ledge and walked back inside, leaving Albus to let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.  
He stayed for a bit longer, watching the sun finally sink into the horizon. And as night dawned upon Hogwarts, he realized he never answered Gellert’s question. He also realized said answer would’ve been a ‘yes’.

 


	4. Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, there!!!  
> What do you think of a little Christmas special about these two?  
> This was made as a thank you to Nina for helping me put this fic together, but I hope everyone can enjoy it ;-*

December came sneaking in with heavy snow and chilling wind, inviting most of the students to engage in the so popular sport of snowball fighting. Albus and Gellert’s ‘balcony talk’ had offered an unspoken (and improbable) truce.  
Gellert didn’t seem exactly thrilled every moment of every day, of course, but he wasn’t sulking either, and in Albus’ eyes, that was a win. The walks around the castle started to be more frequent, mostly at times when crossing paths with anyone was an off-chance, and after the beginning of Christmas break, he actually admitted he liked the castle, but he started to come out of his room and simply _talk_ to Albus.  
Sometimes he’d sketch or read the mountains of books he’d bring from the library (and the thing is, they had nothing to do with blood magic, or anything related. Gellert read them for curiosity, for the pleasure of it). In some nights, they’d play chess, which was not a quick game, since they both took it a bit too seriously.  
Overall, Albus was happy. And that was not a term he loosely employed. For the first time in… years, he had, well (in lack of a better term), a match. Gellert talked about the weirdest things, from complex spells, to the best flavour of Bertie Botts beans (Gellert was partial to honey flavoured, whereas Albus just opted to dislike every single one of them). He also stuck to his opinions and Albus had to watch himself around that silver tongue of his more than once.  
After one of said debates, (this time about the voluntary use of veritaserum in legal procedures, something they ended up agreeing on), Gellert sat on an armchair near the window, slowly sketching a robin that had settled in the windowsill. The bird got sick of being his model, and flew away, leaving Gellert to put down the pencil with an annoyed huff and move next to Albus in front of the fireplace.  
“I went for a walk earlier. You certainly take Christmas seriously; the great hall was almost blinding with so many fairy lights. And I don’t think I have ever seen so much mistletoe in one building.”  
“You didn’t like it?”  
“That’s not what I said. It is…uplifting.”  
“Yes. I think it gives a certain air of hope, and we can never have too much hope.” Albus smiled.  
“Do you think I’m a monster?”  
Albus’ eyebrows shot up:  
“Merlin, how did you get from what I said to _that_?”  
“I’ve been thinking. People seem to think that I don’t care about anyone, but me caring was the whole reason I did what I did. I care about people. I care about you.”  
Albus opened his mouth surprised, but no sound came out. (Not many people could render him speechless, but Gellert seemed to excel at it)  
“Why the face, mein schatz?” He raised an eyebrow “Are you going to tell me you didn’t know it?”  
Albus cleared his throat before answering:  
“I don’t think you’re a monster, and for the record, I never hated you. I think you’re a man of strong ideals, who just happens to use wrong ways to get to them. Extremely wrong. Maybe I’m biased but I can’t bring myself to call you a monster.”  
Gellert smiled:  
“Thank you. And, how did you put it? ‘For the record’, if I didn’t care for you, I wouldn’t have let you win our little quarrel.”  
“Quarrel? You started a war” Albus said, eyebrow raised.  
“Details.”  
“And I reckon I defeated you quite fairly.”  
“Really, the way you defeated me in last night’s game of chess?”  
“What is that supposed to mean?”  
“It’s supposed to mean I was tired and wanted to go to sleep and did what can only be described as a rookie mistake.”  
“Then I suppose you wouldn’t mind a rematch.”  
“I’d love to.”  
\------------  
Christmas Eve found Albus in the great hall, feeling divided. He had asked Gellert about twenty times before actually leaving the office.  
“Are you sure you don’t want to come down for dinner? The Christmas feast is always the best of the year.”  
“Then bring up a tray like you’ve been doing for the past month.” He’d said with a shrug.  
“But the ambiance is different.”  
Gellert had laughed at that:  
“The _ambiance_? In case you forgot, I’m not anyone’s favourite person, right now.”  
“There aren’t that many students around. And the teachers-”  
“Will sneer the moment they lay eyes on me. I’m perfectly fine here. Go.”  
And he had. Closing the door behind him and feeling incredibly guilty. The rational part of him told him he had nothing to feel guilty about: Gellert was, to all effects and purposes, a terrorist. A criminal who should be in jail and who Albus, for some reason, had brought to Hogwarts. He had no place feeling guilty about Gellert not going to the Great Hall. Then again, Albus was never really all that rational when it came to Gellert. So, ten minutes later, he walked into his office, followed by a few elves carrying more than enough food for ten people, let alone two.  
\-----------  
Gellert had been watching the snow fall. He didn’t care all that much about Christmas. But Albus’ insistence in his participation in the feast had been endearing. He turned around at the sound of the door clicking behind him, and found Albus, surrounded by enough food for a week, smiling like an idiot (a cute idiot, but an idiot nonetheless).  
“No one should spend Christmas alone.” He said, beaming.  
Gellert rolled his eyes and ignored the beat his heart decided to skip.  
The small elves cleared the desk and two side tables to set down the food at an impressive rate and left. From where he stood, he could see some roasted potatoes, a turkey and ham, along with a steaming pile of vegetables. And on one of the small tables rested a three-layer cake with a dancing cake topper (utterly useless, and slightly annoying).  
They sat down, and Gellert had to admit Albus had a point, everything smelled heavenly. With a flick of his wand, Albus stoked the fire and a decorated tree appeared in the office’s corner.  
“Ambiance?” Gellert smirked.  
“Well, it is Christmas.”  
They ate over some pleasant conversation (that Gellert had stupidly worried would become uncomfortable), and by the end of the meal, Albus got up and reached for the far cabinet. The same cabinet Gellert had tried to open in his first night. The lock came apart with a touch of his hand, and he nonchalantly opened the doors. Gellert couldn’t help himself. He craned his neck to see the inside: Most of the space was taken up by a wide and shallow stone dish intricately decorated with gems, a pensieve. Above stood a wooden shelf, where rested two small boxes. One of them was about the right size to hold a wand (and Gellert could guess exactly what wand), and the other one was smaller, and round. Albus didn’t take any of them out, though. He walked back to the table holding a bottle of firewhiskey and two glasses.  
He poured himself a drink and handed him the second. Gellert thought about drinking it but decided to raise his glass:  
“To reckless decisions, and office dinners.”  
Albus chuckled:  
“Cheers.”  
The clinking glasses refilled themselves after a few minutes, and again, and a third time. Gellert didn’t know what time it was. He had had that feeling before, but not quite. Back in Nurmengard, a time came when he stopped counting the hours (mostly in the days without sun) because it was no use. Right now, it wasn’t that he didn’t have a way of knowing, he simply didn’t care. Maybe it was the firewhiskey, maybe not, but he felt comfortable. And when Albus put on a record and invited him for a dance, he figured he could always blame it on the drinking.  
“Merry Christmas, Gellert” he whispered as they swayed to the music.  
“Merry Christmas, mein Liebe.”  
And if Albus noticed the different nickname, he didn’t show it. Or maybe he did, and that’s why neither of them let go when the first song ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that they're dancing to is supposed to be Sinatra's version of "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" (which was first recorded in 1948 but magic).  
> Check out the lyrics because it is THE Christmas song for this fic, at least I think so.  
> Also, to clarify the nickname thing:  
> Mein Schatz means 'darling' , and Gellert uses it in a bit of a mocking tone  
> Mein Liebe, however, means 'my love', and he uses it honestly here.  
> Happy Holidays, everyone!!! <3


	5. Hogsmeade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments you guys have been leaving <3  
> A special thank you to Nina, the most wonderful beta reader on the face of the Earth ;-)  
> Find us both on Tumblr  
> @thefantasticsuperouatgirl (me)  
> @dreamerinthedark (Nina)

Gellert could barely breathe. The burning in his collarbone spread around his torso like winding ropes. Still he cast spell after spell, flaming rage coursing through him. His vision blurred, and he fell back. He felt scared for his life, as if there was something vital, he had to do but it was too late. And then a figure stood over him. Strands of auburn hair dangled over his face as Albus came into focus. Green light blasted around them and…

Gellert sat up sweating. He took a deep breath, calming himself down. As a seer he had learned not to disregard his dreams, and he hadn’t dreamed in quite some time. But this dream, this _nightmare_ … It was too vivid, too real, and too unreal at the same time. Gellert refused to believe Albus could do what the dream suggested, but an ache in his chest gave him enough insecurity to get up.

He walked to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. The livid look of fear had toned down a bit and so he walked to the office.

It was still dark outside and the watch over Albus’ desk told him it was little after four in the morning. What drew his attention, however, was the flickering light beneath Albus’ bedroom door.

They hadn’t talked about Christmas eve. At all. After almost an hour of holding on to each other, the moment had been broken by the fireworks outside (The foolish idea of a foolish student, no doubt). Albus had gone outside to see what the fuss was about and Gellert had decided to go to bed. In the morning it was like it had never happened.

But it had. And Gellert was a bit unsure of where the limit layed now. He took a chance, and knocked on the door, opening it a smige before reminding himself he was supposed to wait for an answer.

The small opening was enough to hear the last notes of a soothing tune before it was replaced by Albus’ calm voice:

“Come in.”

Gellert walked into the room. It was similar to his own, save for some small things: the four-poster bed was lacking curtains, there were some candy boxes on the bedside table and robes thrown about near the wardrobe, and in the corner, instead of a desk, there was a piano where Albus sat:

“I’m sorry, did I wake you up?”

“No, don’t worry, your silencing spell worked quite nicely.” He smiled. “What are _you_ doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“A lot on your mind, have you?”

“You have no idea. Besides I’ve always relied on good music to ease my mind”

Gellert sat on the armchair by the piano:

“I almost forgot you played.”

“To be honest, I haven’t in quite some time.”

“Well, don’t stop on my accord, I always did enjoy listening to you.”

Albus hesitated a moment but then started playing. Gellert knew this song. A story about two lovers who hope to go back to their blissful days after the war. It was quite the sight: Albus’ fingers brushed the gleaming keys, his face serene. It brought the memories of summer afternoons in a small town, before everything got complicated.

When it had been too hot to do any research about anything, and Albus would play the piano, and sing a song of hope. When Gellert had seen the utter peace on his face and had realized he was far more affected by it than he should have been. And the days when the songs had only played inside their heads, as they had lain together, Albus’ hair a fiery halo, his wide eyes impossibly blue, a smile brushing his lips after Gellert had kissed them red. When they rolled together in the grass as the careless boys who had known so little of life and the world. The image turned from the golden memory to a bright green light, and Gellert brushed it away, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Albus stopped playing:

“Something wrong?”

“Um…no, I’m fine.”

Albus turned to him, his leg crossed over the piano seat:

“You know what I think?”

“I suspect you’re about to tell me.”

“We should go to Hogsmeade.”

“Hogsmeade?” Gellert asked, eyebrow raised.

“Yes, little town, close by, I think a change of scenery would be good for both of us.”

“I think, Albus,” he rolled up his sleeves, exposing his marked wrists, “that you are forgetting a tiny detail here. I can’t leave the school premises.”

“Well…”

“Well, what?”

“Technically, as I’m the one who cast the binding spell, as long as I’m next to you, you can go, well, anywhere.”

“Did that slip your mind earlier or were you afraid I’d abduct you and run away?”

Albus shrugged.

“And why do I have the distinct feeling that you’ve elected not to share that information with the ministry?”

“They would’ve made a fuss about it, and that’s just too much trouble.”

The (former) dark wizard raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help but smirk.

“Alright, give me a minute.”

Gellert got up and walked to his room. Maybe it was really just a nightmare.

\---------------

Albus watched the sky turn light blue as the sun rose, and after a bit, Gellert’s bedroom door opened. The man came out wearing a white shirt and a blue vest to match his trousers, his hair tied back with a ribbon. One of the outfits Albus had placed in his wardrobe (one of his favourites in fact).

“Is anything even open at this hour?”

“Oh, yes. There’s a lovely bakery that has the best cinnamon buns I’ve ever tried.”

“Let’s go, then.”

Albus offered Gellert his arm and they Apparated in front of a bakery. Despite the early hour, some people were already inside. Before they went in, however, Gellert tugged him back:

“Slight problem. I’m not exactly out of the public eye. Won’t people recognize me? And you, for that matter?”

Albus didn’t say anything, instead he nodded to the shop window. In what should be their reflection, he saw two men who had nothing to do with them, save for their clothes, and maybe their built, if one was to squint and wish really hard.

“Well, would you look at that? I’m a brunet.” Gellert smiled mischievously at Albus.

They walked in and sat by a small booth near the far window. The place was cosy, with the faint smell of bread, chocolate and cinnamon hovering around them. Albus ordered two glasses of pumpkin juice and a plate of pastries that arrived after a surprisingly short while. Of the people walking in and out of the store, a few of them grumbled a sleepy ‘good morning’, but most of them didn’t spare a second look.

“I miss this, you know?” He told Gellert between bites of a cookie with strawberry filling. “The anonymity.”

“Oh, yes. What a torture it must be to be praised by every passer-by.” Answered Gellert sarcastically.

“That’s not it. Sometimes it’s like…”

“Like everyone’s looking for the smallest mistake, a tiny slip to push you off your pedestal.”

 “Well, yes, but I’m not on any pedestal”

“I never said you built it for yourself. But let’s face it, you’ve been in the spotlight since your childhood. A talented, attractive, charismatic genius with a tragic past? You were the world’s golden boy.”

“Yes. That’s exactly it.”

“Don’t look so surprised. I’m quite popular myself, we just don’t attend the same social circles.” Gellert said, finishing a cinnamon roll. “You were right, these are wonderful.”

Albus chuckled. He looked out the window:

“You know another great thing about looking like this? I can go to Honeyduke’s and buy as many cases of sherbet lemon as I want, without anyone batting an eye.”

“Sherbet Lemon? That’s what you’re going with?”

Albus raised his eyebrows in a silent ‘have a problem with that?’ and Gellert raised his arms in defeat:

“Alright, alright. Have it your way.”

Albus smiled. They finished their breakfast and fifteen minutes later, they walked out of Honeyduke’s, Albus holding two bags of the muggle sweets. Gellert suspected they’d started selling them by his request.

Albus offered him a piece.

“If you insist.” He popped one of the sweets into his mouth. To be fair, ‘sweet’ was a complete misdirection, the things were sour and wird, but overall “Not bad, Albus, not bad at all.”

Gellert took his arm and they apparated near the lake. Looking over at the water, he saw he looked like himself again. Albus sat on a rock, and Gellert sat by his side:

“Thank you.” He mumbled.

“What for?”

“The trip to Hogsmeade, the breakfast, all of this. I have no idea why you’re doing it, and I’m pretty sure it’s an illusion at some level, but until it goes away, thank you.”

Albus looked at him for a moment, and then answered:

“Anytime.”

They sat in silence for a bit, and Albus then had an idea. Slowly, and as inconspicuously as he could. He gathered some snow in his hand and promptly threw it at Gellert.

The other man took a few seconds to recover from the shock:

“Are you joking?”

Gellert decided to wipe that self-satisfying smirk off his face with a well-aimed snowball. It worked, sort of. Albus’ smirk turned to a surprised expression, replaced by the widest smile Gellert remembered, and then he laughed. Not condescending, or forced, but a full hearted laugh that brought tears to his eyes, and a redness to Gellert’s face that had little to do with the cold. He shaped another snowball and Gellert could barely dodge it.

And for the rest of the morning, the few students who had stayed in Hogwarts for Christmas were able to see their so respectable Transfiguration teacher in a snowball fight with a once dangerous dark lord. Good luck getting anyone to believe that story.


	6. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!!! Okay, so first of all, thank you so much to Nina, You are awesome for helping me out with this and I cannot thank you enough <3  
> Also, I think I got little carried away on this one, so the chapter is a lot longer than the others but I hope you all enjoy it. Thank you to all of you for leaving kudos and comments on the previous chapters, have fun with this one ;-)

Albus walked into his room to change. It was below zero outside, his clothes were beyond drenched, and he was sure he’d set a new personal record at making a fool of himself, but he could not, by the life of him, stop smiling. For the first time in a long time he had had _fun._ And it was exhilarating.

\------------

Gellert was slightly pissed at himself. His plan to leave Hogwarts as fast as possible had started to crumble around Christmas, and was now shattered beyond repair. And it was all because of Albus. He was just so _Albus_ , with the way he looked at Gellert like he wasn’t any bother. How he talked to him about everything as if it was the most important subject of all time. The way he was slowly, and steadily reminding him of why he had been inches away from throwing away his plans for the greater good if only Albus asked all those years ago. The way he laughed and smiled as if he was genuinely happy that Gellert was once again next to him. All of that was pulling him back in. Into what he found himself hoping wasn’t just wishful thinking. He tried to remember That night’s dream. The horror. The anger. The crippling vulnerability. But, now more than ever, the whole ordeal seemed impossible. He changed into dry clothes and walked into the office. It was empty, but the peaceful melody of an expertly played piano drew him to Albus’ room. He found the door open, and leaned against it:

“You know, if you’re going to start playing again, it might be more convenient to move the piano to your office.”

Albus stopped playing and looked up to him:

“Or you could just come in.” He smiled.

Gellert turned around and left for the office.

\---------------

Albus almost slapped himself: ‘you could just come in’? What kind of answer was that? He cleared his throat and turned back to the piano but stopped at hearing footsteps. Gellert walked into the room and sat in the armchair by the window, holding a length of parchment and a pencil:

“The view from your window is different, and good music is always good for inspiration.”

They both smiled and resumed their activities. For a while, nothing but soft music filled the room, both men revelling in each other’s presence. Eventually, the trees and snow stopped being so interesting and Gellert found himself drawing deft fingers, auburn hair, and a serene expression. Just as he was trying to figure out the right line of a shirt collar, Albus looked up at him. He said nothing, chuckling slightly when Gellert looked away.

“May I see it? “

“it’s not finished yet.”

“Hmm, and when it is?“

“I’ll think about it.”

“Of course.”

Gellert finished the drawing and set down his pencil, loosening his hair and letting some strands dangle over his face:

"I noticed something in your office."

Albus turned to him:

"Something interesting?"

"You removed the lock from the cabinet."

"What cabinet?"

"Really, Albus? _That's_ how you want to play this?"

"Fine. I figured, since you're going to be spending a lot of time around here, I ought to trust you sometime."

"Horrible decision, really." Gellert muttered.

"Maybe so. We'll see."

"So, if I go there now and open it, I won’t..." He gestured at his collar bone (which had been surprisingly unproblematic for the past few days).

"You'll be healthy as an ox."

Gellert looked at Albus for what seemed to be an eternity, studying his face in search for any sign of deception, or perhaps something else. Then he got up from the armchair, knocking over the parchment and pencil in the process. Albus picked up the piece of parchment, and admired it:

“It’s beautiful, but I thought you were drawing the view.”

“I was.” He grinned mischievously and pulled the drawing from Albus' hands “egotistical much? “

“I beg your pardon?”

“You’re complementing your own appearance, Albus.”

“A bit of self-love never hurt anyone, and I was complementing you, actually.”

“Oh...Still...shut up!”

Albus smiled (something Gellert tried really hard but failed miserably to ignore) and they left his room.

In the office, Albus leaned against his desk and crossed his arms, defiant. Gellert walked to the wooden door cabinet and set a hand on the handle, forcing himself not to hold his breath.

No burning.

He pulled open the doors and looked inside. Aside from what he had seen the other night, there were two more bottles of fire-whiskey, an old book, and what seemed to be a photo album. His eyes wandered to the wand box, but he thought better of it. No use torturing himself.

Gellert examined the pensieve:

"These are rare, you know? Really, truly, rare. Though, for someone with _your_ connections, it must've been easy to get. But _why_ would you?"

Albus took a moment to answer:

"I'm a sentimental man. there was a lot of good moments in my life, and a lot of interesting ones. I like to analyse them."

"And wallow in regret."

"Not only regret, there were other things." Albus answered, not looking at him.

He looked back to the cabinet, picking up the last box, a small round case spotted with golden swirls. He opened it and almost choked. Inside, resting atop a red velvet pillow, was a pendant. One that had been created with the blood and dreams of two boys who were to in love to think of the consequences. No, it couldn't be:

"How? You destroyed it. I felt it. How did you- You destroyed it."

"I did." There he was again, looking anywhere but at Gellert. "That's not our pact. It's a replica."

"A replica?"

"Sterling silver and south sea pearls." He finally looked at Gellert. "Go on. Ask."

Gellert's voice was barely above a whisper:

"Why."

"Like I said. I'm a sentimental man." He paused for a bit. "Besides, you have to admit, it's a fine piece of jewerly."

Albus ended his answer with a chuckle, but somehow, Gellert was sure this was one of their most serious talks. He had made Albus uncomfortable, and for some reason, that made him uncomfortable. Not a great feeling. He set the box back and closed the cabinet.

"Thank you for trusting me."

Albus seemed surprised at that, but he nodded with a smile.

Gellert decided to change the subject

"So, the students come back tonight, is it?"

"Yes, I'm afraid you'll have to go back to your nightly schedule."

Gellert snorted:

"That sounds wrong. don't say it like that." Gellert looked out the window. “I’m hungry.”

“Well, there’s nothing left from breakfast except candy, but we could go down to the kitchens, and see if there’s anything there.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Gellert didn't think Albus was serious when he told him the way to the kitchen involved tickling a pear. Yet, here they were, in the lower levels of the castle, tickling a _painting_ to walk through a hole in the wall. Hogwarts really was something.

The kitchens were as impressive as the rest of the castle. With shiny copper pots and pans hanging from the ceiling. Countless herbs and vegetables tucked in wicker baskets gave the room a smell of countryside. Small house elves hurried around, shooing them out of the way as they carried bowls of cake batter, trays of potatoes, and different cuts of meat.

"I believe we're hindering more than we're helping." Gellert said. "Is there any other place we could eat?"

As if to answer his question, an elf wearing a dishcloth walked up to them:

"Professor Dumbledore, sir, how can we help?"

Albus crouched down to be at the elf's height:

"I'm sure you have your hands full, but could we get a nice lunch for us both?"

The elf looked at both men:

"Of course! What can I get the sirs?"

"What would you recommend?"

"Well, there's meat pie for the feast but I can bake some now if the sirs would like."

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

The elf scurried away to an oven at least twice his size and got to work. Albus and Gellert tried to guess what was hanging from which hook in the ceiling (and however confident and meaning well, they still got at least half of it wrong) until the small elf came back with an enormous tray of meat pies and two jars of juice. They left the (undoubtedly talented, those pies smelled amazing) elves to work and sat by the lake again. The remnants of their snowball fight still visible. This time it was quieter, though. They ate, and talked, and Albus tried to convince him to have dinner in the great hall again:

"I told you a thousand times, _no_!"

"It is depressing to watch you eat in the office. It would be fun."

"It would be a lot of things, Albus. But I guarantee you 'fun' would _not_ be one of them."

"Fine," He threw his arms up in defeat, "Have it your way."

He summoned a pack of chocolate frogs from what Gellert assumed was his office and offered him one.

"Albus, did anyone ever tell you that you have extremely unhealthy eating habits?"

"Do you _not_ want it?"

"I didn't say that." Gellert grabbed the small package and opened it. Once free, the chocolate frog tried to jump away, but Gellert caught it in his hand. It went still, the magic fading out, and he tried a bit. He then noticed something else inside the package, a... playing card?

"I didn't know these had cards."

"Yeah, they started a while ago. 'Famous witches and wizards' or something like that."

Gellert turned over the card to find Albus' face smiling at him:

"Well, they certainly don't waste any time."

"What?" Albus asked, busy with his own frog.

" ‘Albus Dumbledore, currently professor of transfiguration at Hogwarts. Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.’ You _are_ famous.”

"You're joking. Give me that." Albus read the card, and reread it, a goofy smile spreading across his face. "I'm in a chocolate frog card."

"Merlin, you're actually proud of this." Gellert laughed.

"Proud? I'm going to frame this. I'm a _trading card_ , Gellert."

Gellert couldn't help but smile at Albus' enthusiasm over something so simple:

"Well, you're welcome, by the way."

"Hmm?"

"I'm the reason you're 'particularly famous' for. You're welcome." He laughed. "And who's this Nicholas Flamel, by the way?"

"Jealous?"

"Curious."

"He's an old friend."

"Well, you can't leave it at that."

"Merlin's beard, you _are_ jealous!" Albus chuckled. "Don't worry. He's an old collaborator of mine, who became a friend. A married friend."

Albus smirked and _winked_ at Gellert, and whatever snarky answer he had prepared vanished from his brain.

"Right, um... yes, I... right."

Albus didn't seem to notice his current lack of basic mental abilities and got up, holding out his hand:

"I have to get some things ready for tomorrow's class. Are you coming?"

"Sure. Yeah."

They walked back, and Gellert realized from then on, he'd have to be very, very careful.


	7. After Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everybody!!! Here's the new chapter in due time ;-)  
> This one took some work and I couldn't have done it without Nina, so thank you so much! <3  
> My tumblr: @thefantasticsuperouatgirl   
> Nina's tumblr: @dreamerinthedark  
> enjoy :-)

The students did come back that night. If Gellert was in a poetic mood, he would’ve said the halls were alive with the presence of bright minds revelling in their timeless youth. But he wasn’t in a poetic mood.

 To be perfectly honest, he felt like throwing a tantrum, crossing his arms, stomp his feet, and slam the door. Because, as much as he hated to admit it, his ‘penitence’ wasn’t so bad: Albus was next to him, and that was obviously a plus, but it wasn’t just that. Even not having magic was more or less bearable now. No matter how hard he tried, the quiet, the freedom, the undivided attention of someone as keen of mind as him, it was good.

And now it was over. No more breakfasts in Hogsmeade, no more drawing while listening to sweet piano, no more games of chess. He was going to go back to pacing around the office, reading whatever books he could find. Which would be perfectly fine, if the thought of leaving didn’t make him sullen and downright _sad_. It was pathetic, the great dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald reduced to a child with a tantrum because Albus had classes.

Gellert decided that his conscious mind was infuriating him a bit more than it should and decided to go to bed earlier. He considered leaving a note to Albus but thought better of it. He didn’t owe the man any kind of satisfaction.

So, he lied down, and soon the dark room was replaced by white light. The pain came back, as well as the urgency to do _something_ and then a face. _His_ face. And the green light around both of them. This time, however, Gellert noticed something he hadn’t before. He was sure the vision hadn’t changed (they rarely did), but he saw Albus’ hand: He was holding the Elder wand, and he was the one casting the killing curse that lighted up the room. Moreover, he was casting it _away_ from Gellert.

 This gave him some sense of security. He wasn’t seeing his death, or at least, not by Albus’ hand. But it brought another question. Albus had gotten his life right since his youth. He was commendable. There was no way he would use an unforgivable curse. So, how serious was it that he deemed it justified? Who was on the other end of that curse? Why was Gellert in the middle of it? What could be precious enough to force Albus to kill?

And the pain continued. He wasn’t dying, so what could hurt this much? And what was that thing he had to do? He had to stop something…

\---------

Albus walked into his office with a tray in hand. He had to find a way to convince Gellert to have dinner down in the great hall, this was a lot less interesting. Seeing the office empty, he called out for his friend. No answer. He shrugged and set the tray down in a small table, charming it to stay warm, and that’s when he heard it, small cries, almost whispers:

“No…please…stop…”

He slowly opened the door. The room was dark, the moonlight casting strange shadows on the walls.

“Lumos”

Albus stopped mid-step when he saw him: curled up in himself, Gellert was shivering, eyes screwed shut and tiny beads of sweat trailing down his face.

With a flick of his wand, Albus lit up the room and got closer. He called out for Gellert, shaking him into waking up, and when he opened his eyes, Albus understood.

His expression showed a horror that Albus had seen before. When they were younger, Gellert had looked at him at him like that after visions of death, war, and pain. To Albus, he looked like a boy again, scared of what might come.

“It’s all right, Gellert. It can’t hurt you. You’re safe. It’s all right.” Albus repeated it like a mantra until Gellert could breathe normally again. He sat by him and tilted his chin up:

“Say it with me. Come on.”

“I’m safe. It can’t hurt me.”

“There you go. Everything all right now?”

Gellert nodded.

Albus pulled up the covers over him and turned to leave. He had just gotten up when he heard a small voice behind him:

“Stay? Please.”

“I…Of course.”

He turned off the lights and lied back. Gellert moved closer and Albus put his arms around him, hoping the hitch in his breath went unnoticed. He fell asleep in seconds.

\-----------------

Gellert woke up with the sun hitting his eyes. The pillow next to him smelled distinctively of Albus.

Oh, shit! Albus! 

Gellert sat up, all the sleepy haze in his mind replaced by crippling panic. The bed beside him was empty for some time, it seemed. Thank Merlin. It was probably late in the morning and Albus had classes to teach, but there was a note (of course there was a note, it was _Albus_ )

                _Dear Gellert, I’m sorry I had to leave earlier, but I had a class, if you like, we can talk about your vision later, or not, it’s up to you. I hope you’re feeling better now. Breakfast is in your desk, if you feel like it. Also, I’ll be busy until late today but what do you think of an evening stroll after dinner?_

It was so infuriatingly sweet that Gellert groaned.

Looking back, he’d _known_ it was stupid. Even scared and of not so sound mind, he’d known that inviting Albus into his bed would turn into an absolute disaster. Yet, a small part of him roared with pride, because Albus had said ‘of course’. He had stayed. And Gellert hadn’t slept that well in ages. It was with that in mind that Gellert got up smiling, having breakfast by his window, soaking in the sun and didn’t even notice when a mob of quidditch players flew by his window.

\----------------

 Albus’ hands were still tingling: He’d woken up to find one of them tangled in Gellert’s hair and the other one resting atop his hip, the man’s calm breath warm on his neck.

His heart had sped up so suddenly, he thought he was having a heart attack. Thank Merlin for Gellert’s heavy sleep.

This whole thing was strange, and undeniably dangerous, but to be honest, Albus couldn’t find it in himself to care. His students looked at him like he had gone mad when he told them there was no homework. And not even Peeve’s decision of covering the greenhouse with extra sticky salted caramel (and the consequent cleaning job) spoiled his mood.

\--------------

Gellert had been sprawled on the couch, finally in a comfortable reading position, when someone knocked on the door.

It was little after lunch, so it wasn’t Albus. He decided to ignore it and returned to his book, only to be interrupted a few seconds later with more insistent knocking:

“Fine, wait a minute, will you?” He groaned.

He opened the door to find a curly haired, dark skinned girl, in black and green robes, holding at least five books, and looking rather worried:

“Profes- You’re not professor Dumbledore.”

“I’m afraid not.”

 “Who are you?” she asked curios. “You’re not a professor.”

 “Well, Alb- Professor Dumbledore isn’t here”, he said, not answering her question.

“Oh…”

“Do you need something important?”

“I skipped class, and there were some things I didn’t understand last week.”

“You skipped class? How rebellious of you. Though it is slightly undermined by coming to the teacher’s office for help”

The girl frowned:

“I wasn’t being rebellious, I was helping to clean up the greenhouse.”

“Hmm. Voluntary work. That is disgustingly noble of you.”

She arched an eyebrow.

“In the most flattering way.” He smiled.

Gellert thought about closing the door. He had made fun of Albus for indulging the children every question, but it was probably an effect of the school, because he did the most sappy, soft thing:

“Alright, come on in.”

“What?”

“You heard me. First year transfiguration can’t be that hard. Now, hurry, before I change my mind.”

They sat by Albus’ desk and poured over ‘A Beginner’s Guide for Transfiguration’. The girl, Elena, was smart, and quick witted, and Gellert found himself feeling somewhat proud every time she answered a question right. Elena ended up asking him to help her with something for the next day’s defence against the dark arts class, in which he could only help in the theoretical matter and found incredibly ironic.

They stayed on it until the sun started to set, and Gellert had to light up some candles (an extremely tedious thing to do without magic). He was half through explaining the easiest way to cure a werewolf bite when they heard the door open.

\--------------

Albus’ good mood might’ve started the day through the roof, but there’s only so many hits someone can take before wanting to hex half the world. Peeves following him around complaining about his ‘ruined work of art’ was the kind of thing that did it pretty well. He needed something sweet, some nice music, and some enjoyable conversation. He opened the door to his office slowly:

“Gellert, do we have any sherb-“ The rest of the sentence died out as he took in the scene.

Gellert was sitting on Albus’ chair, describing how to mix powdered silver and dittany to a student whose attention was divided between taking notes and not missing a word of what he said.

“Oh. Hello, Albus. I thought you said you’d be late.”

“I am, it’s half past nine.”

The girl jumped from her seat:

“Oh no, I’m going to miss dinner.”

“You might not, but there are very few people left in the great hall. And Miss Moore,” he waited until the girl (already half way out the door) looked at him, “have your questions been answered?”

“Yes, thank you, Mr. Grindelwald. You’re a great teacher.”

“I’m not-“ Gellert started, but she had already left.

Albus turned to him:

“So, you are a tutor now?”

“Shut up.”

“No, there’s nothing wrong with it. I’m glad you agree with me.” Albus couldn’t help but smile and wink at his old friend.

“Excuse me?” asked Gellert as if he didn’t know exactly what Albus was talking about.

“I mean it. You would make a great teacher.”

“No, I certainly wouldn’t” Gellert answered.

He got up and threw a bag of candy at Albus:

“That’s what you wanted, right?”

Albus took a piece from the bag. He could feel the light-hearted atmosphere slip away. They were going there eventually, so might as well cut to the chase:

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Gellert turned around:

“Merlin’s beard, Albus, I was bored, all right? I’m not going to become a teacher because I covered for you”

“That’s not what I meant.”

His expression changed. Albus guided him to one of the armchairs by the fireplace and sat in the other.

“I’m fine.” Gellert muttered.

“You know, for someone with a silver tongue. You can be a lousy liar.”

Gellert rolled his eyes but didn’t answer.

“Was it just a dream or…” Albus pried.

“No” Gellert said with a frown. “I had it now two nights in a row, and it was too vivid. I could feel everything. It was a vision.”

“What was it?”

“I…Well… “ Gellert looked down, his gaze nervous, fearful even.

“You would never kill anyone willingly, right?” he asked softly.

 “No. Of course not! Gellert why-?” Albus began but his friend didn’t let him finish.

“Nothing, it’s fine.”

“I… okay. And the vision?”

“Nothing that can’t be changed.”

Gellert got up suddenly, walked to his room and closed the door. For a day that had started so well, Albus wasn’t a fan of the ending at all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments, you guys are awesome!


	8. Space

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, there  
> As promised, these two are back  
> The biggest thank you to Nina, for being an amazing beta reader, you are awesome, sweetheart  
> Find us on Tumblr  
> Me: @thefantasticsuperouatgirl  
> Her: @dreamerinthedark

Gellert had made up his mind. Whatever made Albus reach his breaking point and take a life could be stopped, would be stopped, and if that meant going back to silence between them... Then so be it. His visions were usually extremely accurate, but not always inevitable. And if the vision involved Albus and Gellert together, then all he had to do was, well, not that.

A small voice inside him taunted “You’ve gone soft. You’re falling for him, again”, and no matter how many times he told himself this was for personal interest, that he didn’t want to be saved like some damsel in distress, there was something else.

Against all his past wishes, seeing Albus be more than a broken man, no longer grieving for a life that could have been if not for the foolishness of a mistake, hurting for the past… It was nice. Albus was healing, trying to move on. And Gellert wasn’t going to ruin that. No matter how hard it was.  
\------------------  
Albus worked past the lump in his throat and forced his legs to carry him back to his room. He didn’t quite understand what had just happened. He had thought they were close enough for Gellert to tell him about his vision (in fact he thought he was the only one close enough for it). Maybe he said something wrong, maybe Gellert was hurt by his comment. Whatever it was, Albus felt like screaming. Every time they got closer, they would get dragged right back to square one. He lied down and tried not to look at the armchair near the window, where Gellert had been sitting only a few days ago, with a smile on his face, drawing him.

So close to perfection, that day.

“Nox” he whispered, leaving the only light to come from the full moon outside. And after hours of tossing and turning, he finally fell into an unsurprisingly troubled sleep.  
It’s not that the dreams were bad (quite the contrary), it’s just that they were more memories than dreams.

That morning fused with others long ago when he didn’t have to leave Gellert and could watch the sunlight play with his light golden hair, the trip to Hogsmeade turned into picnics and stolen kisses under a summer sky. Christmas Eve gave way to a meeting in an old barn when they swore never to turn against each other, and the countless nights in which they just lied together dreaming of a bright future where they ruled together, always together.

He woke up the next morning as if he hadn’t slept at all. At least it was Friday, he ought to find a way to fix this over the weekend.  
\---------------  
Friday was indeed a calm day. With only one class, Albus came back to his office not long after lunch. He cursed himself for the small spark of hope that flared seconds before he opened the door, maybe Gellert would be sitting by the window, drawing, or reading…

He wasn’t.

The first few hours went by quicker than he thought. Grading papers and planning classes demanded focus. Enough focus to make him forget the mess he was in. But not for long.  
Because it was a mess. Forty-seven years and a duel later, he wasn’t all that proud to say he never healed. He never moved on from what he and Gellert had. And if the past few months were anything to go by, it was painfully obvious.

Being close to Gellert was bliss and damnation all wrapped in one. He was the only one who truly understood Albus, and he suspected that went both ways. On the other hand, however, it was intoxicating. Gellert was an ocean, and it wasn’t the first time Albus came too close to drowning.

He was ripped from his musings by a soft knock on his office door.  
From the other side of it, Elena smiled at him:

“Good afternoon, professor.”

“Hello, Miss Moore.”

“Um… I’m sorry, but could you…could you call Mr. Grindelwald, please.”

“I’m not certain that he will answer, but I can try. Come on in.”

She did, followed closely by a tall, freckled boy. Thomas Campbell, a first year sorted into Hufflepuff that September, with a mind for mischief but the attention span of a goldfish when it came to classes.  
Albus tried to look as calm as possible as he knocked on the bedroom door:

“Gellert?”

No answer. Really?

“Elena Moore is here to see you.”

For a moment there was nothing, and Albus felt like screaming at Gellert. Was he really going to ignore a child?

Then the knob turned.

Gellert looked at Albus for a few seconds and smiled.

Fake.

A charming, hollow smile, with no happiness behind it. It was a good one though, Albus wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t seen the real one so often. He approached the two children:

“Good afternoon, Elena, and…”

“Thomas” The boy answered.

“Elena and Thomas. How wonderful, and what can I do for you?”

“Well, we have a lot of homework for defence against the dark arts, and since you were so helpful yesterday… Unless it’s too much trouble.”

“No trouble at all. Take a seat, let’s see what I can do.”

Albus watched the three of them through the next hour. Gellert had a way of explaining the subject in a way that was not only simple. It was interesting. The two children looked at him as if the morphology of gnomes was the most fascinating thing in the world. Not even Thomas got distracted during the whole time.

After they finished their homework, the boy asked when they could come in for help. Albus watched as Gellert’s expression changed. He hadn’t really thought of going through with this. Gellert quickly looked up at him, but Albus simply shrugged.

“Well, I guess… every time you need. As long as it’s after lunch.” He finished with a smile.

They thanked him and turned to leave. On her way out, Elena searched her bag for something. Emerging with a chocolate frog and a smile:

“You look sad today. Here, chocolate always makes me feel better.”

“Um…Thank you.”

She left with her friend, discussing something about a Quidditch match later that weekend. Albus decided to try for some truce:

“They’re good kids, Gellert”

He stopped on the way to his room, as if deciding whether to answer.  
“I never said they weren’t.”

“You know, I never met a teacher who could get Thomas to pay attention to them for more than ten minutes, you just did it for an hour. It’s quite the feat!”

“I told you. I’m good with crowds. They’re just… a smaller crowd of smaller people.”

“Right… Look, whatever it is I did last night, I’m sorry. I hope everything’s alright between us.”

“It is. I just need some space.”

“Well, when you’ve had enough space, you know where to find me, right?”

“Always.” Gellert gave him a small smile and walked to his room.  
\-----------

Damn Albus and his self loathing puppy eyes. Here was Gellert trying as he might to not get Albus hurt, to make sure he was safe, and he thought he needed to apologize? That he had done something wrong?

Because he never did. It was always Gellert who pushed the extra mile. He was always the one with the ideas that went wrong. And Gellert was trying to keep Albus away from another one of them (whatever it turned out to be) to stop him from getting hurt, but if he was getting hurt anyway, what was the point?  
Alright, maybe he had to go about this another way. In the meantime, getting that sad expression off Albus’ face wouldn’t hurt one bit. He walked out of his room:

“Say, space is rather boring. And I’m fairly certain you owe me a walk”

Yes, that smile was a far better.

 


	9. Second Try

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there!!! We're back  
> thank you so much for all the kudos and comments you've been leaving, you guys are awesome.  
> And the biggest thank you to Nina for making time to beta read my shenanigans.  
> Find us both on tumblr:  
> @thefantasticsuperouatgirl (me)  
> @dreamerinthedark (her)

January was too cold for walks. And they were too stubborn for January.

It had snowed that morning, but the sky was clear now, giving way to a beautiful sunset that tinted the snow with fire. Their breaths were small puffs of smoke in the chilling air as they turned up their coat collars for some protection against the wind.

They finally gave up on the walking, and just sat on a bench watching the sky darken. Just as the first few stars started twinkling above them, Albus summoned two mugs of steaming hot chocolate into their hands. Gellert was too focused on the night sky to even watch him do it, and the result was half a mug spilled over him.

“Merlin, that hurts!” He almost jumped from his seat.

“Here, let me fix it.”

Albus waved his wand and Gellert reflexively flinched. It wasn’t conscious, it wasn’t all that visible, but it was undoubtedly noticed. Before Albus could say anything, however, Gellert cut him off. He quickly disregarded the way he acted, mostly because...

“That’s the elder wand!”

Albus was in fact wielding his trophy from their duel. When had he started using it? How had Gellert not noticed it before?

“I started using it about two days ago. And I’m actually glad you hadn’t noticed.”

Gellert was sure he hadn’t said anything out loud:

“You said you’d stop doing that.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry, but you seemed uncomfortable and I thought-”

“Don’t.” He interrupted. “I am uncomfortable. Because... Because you force me to give up my magic and you almost use yours to breathe! I’m uncomfortable because all the little inconveniences that I would normally solve with a snap of my fingers are now important things. And you- you couldn’t survive without a wand”

Gellert forced himself not to mentally articulate ‘good save’, just in case Albus was still listening. But it wasn’t a lie. Not having magic _was_ infuriating, and all the little things _did_ drive him crazy. It just wasn’t all.

A few moments of silence drifted between them

“Was that a challenge?”

“It was a figure of speech, Albus.” He answered, annoyed. He looked up to Albus, infinetly more curious than he meant “but it could be.”

“Alright, choose”

Gellert raised an eyebrow:

“What on earth are you talking about.”

“What do you want me to do without magic.” There was a glint in Albus’ eyes. He was having fun with this.

Gellert looked away for a bit, thinking.

“Cookies.”

“Cookies?” Albus’ eyebrows shot up.

“Yes. Bake cookies without using magic.”

“ _You_ can’t bake cookies, with or without magic.”

“Which is why I need _you_ to bake them for me. What? Are you going to back down from the challenge? I thought Gryffindors weren’t supposed to do that.” He taunted.

“Not only will I take you up on that challenge, I challenge you back.” Albus smirked. “We’ll both bake, and whoever can make the cookies… well, maybe not tastier, but more edible, wins.”

“Wins what exactly?”

“Anything the other wants.”

“Are you sure, Albus? That could go a lot of ways.”

He smirked and made sure to pack as much suggestion into his sentence as possible as he shook Albus’ hand, taking the bet. Though to be fair, the blooming red on the other man’s cheeks would’ve been a lot more enjoyable if his own weren’t matching.

\---------------------

They eventually went back inside, and as they passed the Great Hall, Albus remembered to try something:

“We should take something upstairs, don’t you think?”

“Sure…um, go ahead. I’ll wait.”

“ _We_ could go inside. It’s still early, there aren’t that many people inside, if any.”

Gellert pursed his lips, but nodded:

“Alright.”

He was right, there were exactly three people inside the Great hall. Two Ravenclaw boys and a Hufflepuff girl absently had dinner, more focused on the conversation than the food itself. Gellert stopped a bit after entering, and Albus suddenly understood why he never had come for dinner.

There were four tables for the students of each house, side by side, close enough that the students currently sitting there were talking amongst them, and the faculty table, facing the door, standing above the rest of the room, as if keeping a watchful eye. Gellert couldn’t sit in any of the four tables, and besides Albus, there was really no member of the faculty that would want him to have dinner beside them. Albus almost slapped himself, it was so obvious.

Gellert’s eyes roamed over the table nearest to them, checking the menu, and Albus had an idea. He was rarely impulsive, but he was also not a fan of awkward situations, so he took Gellert by the hand (which definitely _didn’t_ get his heart racing) and made him sit on the Gryffindor table, taking a seat beside him, as two plates appeared in front of them:

“Bon Appétit.” He grinned.

“You tricked me.”

“I didn’t. Not exactly. I wanted to show you how nice it was in here. Though, I do understand why you can’t eat here the other nights.” He suddenly realised he hadn’t let go of Gellert’s hand when he suddenly tensed up. Albus squeezed his hand, reassuring. “Just today?”  
Gellert took a few moments to answer, but he did so with a small smile:

“Why not?”

They poured over whatever was on the table. And there was a lot. Everywhere they looked, swirling steam rose from golden trays. Meat roasts and piles of vegetables, along with all kinds of side dishes in a mix of heavenly scents that would put a lot of good restaurants to shame.

Gellert suddenly got up, and Albus’ worry only subsided when he saw him make a bee line for the other side of the table. He came back holding a tray full of sausages and…kale?

“Gellert, what is that?”

“The best meal you never had.” He said as he sat down with a smile.

Albus arched an eyebrow as he watched Gellert make a small pile of whatever that thing was into his plate and take a bite. His eyes drifted closed with a small “Mmm” and he took a few seconds to open his eyes again. When he did, a childish smile played on his lips.

“I’m sorry, it’s just… I love this, it’s Sauerkraut. Tante Bathilda  used to make it for me.” He answered Albus’ silent question. “Want to try a bit?”

“I think I’m fine.” He said, taking some roast beef into his own plate

“I never said you weren’t, now try a bit, come on. It can’t be that bad, if you serve it to your students.” He offered him his fork. Albus shrugged and took a bite.

 

“So?”

“You were right.”

“Yes, I am quite often.”

“And so modest.”

“Bathilda made it for you?”

“Yes, she taught my mother the recipe, but it was always different, she used to say there was a secret ingredient.”

“Did you ever find out what it was?”

“Not really, I never went back to Godric’s Hollow.” He fell silent for a bit, perhaps remembering that summer, and Albus felt compelled to chase away the bad moments. Not an easy task.

“Not that you stayed at home for enough time to actually learn something, you spent half the time knocking on my window.” He recalled with a smile.

“I don’t reckon you complained much. In fact, I seem to recall you telling me off a couple of times for being late.”

“I did not!”

“Not to mention the walks up the hill, just because.”

“It wasn’t just because.”

“Really, there was a reason?”

“Yes, you always wanted to swim after a hike.” Albus smirked.

Gellert almost choked on his food, and Albus couldn’t help a small laugh.

“And people think you’re the innocent one.”

They talked over the rest of the dinner, mostly about their summer together, and for the first time, it didn’t hurt. They stayed away from Ariana and their last day together for obvious reasons, and some of the more personal things (the Great Hall was, after all, a public place, and there are few creatures as gossipy as curious teenagers), but Albus remembered all the good things of those months his grief seemed more subdued, his anger and disappointment a little less prominent. He found himself smiling at the memory of that summer. After a bit, most of the students swarmed into the great hall, and they took their desserts outside.

Back into Albus’ office, they sat by the fireplace, and the subject of conversation ended up developing into their…troublemaking:

“I’ve got one.” Gellert said between bites of a slice of custard tart. “Your birthday.”

“Merlin, no! I don’t think I’ll ever live that down.”

“Your brother almost killed me that morning.”

“You? Try spending the first two hours of your birthday being screamed at by your brother.”

Gellert laughed:

“I’m surprised he didn’t barge in during the night.”

“I’m glad he didn’t. I think I would’ve died of fright.” he finished his rice pudding. “I still can’t believe you jumped out of the window”

“I still can’t believe you didn’t.”

“Merlin, we were insane” He chuckled.

“Some would argue we still are.”

“Mind you, I have a reputation.”

“Yes, the one you utterly wrecked by taking a war criminal out of jail?”

“You’re joking but I don’t think I ever had to repeat the same pledge so many damn times.”

“So, you lied through your teeth.” Gellert arched an eyebrow.

“Shut up.”

“You know, of all the places I thought I’d end up in after the war, Hogwarts was not one of them.” He paused for a bit, as if deciding whether or not to continue. “Why did you do it?”

“I told you, rehabil-“

“Don’t lie, Albus. You were never good at it, not with me. I want the real reason.” Gellert set down his plate and fully turned to him.

Oh no.

Albus took a deep breath and answered as truthfully as he could:

“I refuse to believe you are a heartless monster, I saw good in you once, there’s a good part of you in there somewhere.”

“There’s a flirty part of me, that’s all you saw.” Gellert said dismissive.

“I wasn’t talking about us. You cared for Ariana, for your aunt, and for me, I hope. Caring, loving, they’re feelings I believe to be the purest on earth, and wanted to give you a chance to better yourself, to make people see in you what I see, that there’s more to you than a power-hungry maniac.”

Gellert looked at him silently for a few seconds. It felt like an eternity. The flames in the fireplace casted grim shadows on his fair skin, his mismatched eyes locked on Albus as if he was trying to understand something beyond his reach. He looked away, and maybe it was the light of the fire, but Albus was sure he’d seen his cheeks turn red.  

“Well, if you think so…”

He yawned and stretched. Sleepily smiling at Albus while leaning back on his armchair:

“I am spent. Tutoring takes a lot more energy than I thought. I think I’ll go to bed early today. Good night, Albus. See you tomorrow.”

He got up and left for his room. He closed the door behind him but didn’t lock it. Interesting. Albus didn’t exactly know why, but he had a feeling Gellert wasn’t nearly as tired as he appeared.

\----------

_“I refuse to believe you are a heartless monster, I saw good in you once, make people see in you what I see, that there’s more to you than a power-hungry maniac.”_

Great. Just brilliant. That was not at all conflicting.

Albus thought he was _better._

Damn.

Their talk that night had brought up more memories than he was comfortable with. And what Albus had said…

It had taken every ounce of self-control not to grab him by that damn tie and snog him senseless. Even now, he was fighting not to barge out of his room.

And the worst part? He couldn’t, by the life of him, convince himself that Albus wouldn’t want it.

 

No.

He couldn’t do this. Not to Albus and not to himself. The plan was to stay away. To be friendly but not get attached. To save both of them.


	10. Requirements and cookies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!!!  
> Real life got a bit in the way and it messed with the so-called schedule but it's all good now. ;-)  
> A thank you the size of the whole galaxy to Nina for proof-reading this in one day, you are amazing sweetheart  
> Thank you so much to all of you who have been leaving feedback and kudos, you make our days <3  
> Find us both on tumblr:  
> Me: @thefantasticsuperouatgirl  
> Her: @dreamerinthedark

Gellert woke up sweaty that morning for a completely different reason. The vision stopped at the exact same place as always, as if freezing a frame. This time, however, it gave place to memories of summer. Of what was… and what could’ve been.

He took a shower (as cold as he could) and left his room precisely as Albus was shutting his own door.

“Good morning.” He smiled. “Did you sleep well?”

“Wonderfully. You?”

He stopped for a bit. “Breakfast?”

“I’m not all that hungry. But go ahead, I have something else to do.”

Albus arched an eyebrow:

“Should I be worried?”

“About me? Never!”

They parted ways outside the office and Gellert headed to the library. He still had a bet to win, and there was bound to be at least one muggle cookbook somewhere.

\---------------------

Albus found himself in front of the “Hog’s Head”. Should he go in? He’d thought about telling Aberforth of Gellert’s arrival, but on the other hand, they talked about twice a year. And what would he even say? _Oh, hi there, brother. How are you? Remember the man who might’ve killed our sister? The one who tortured you? Well, he’s living with me, now. Also, I’m sort of falling in love with him all over again._

No, thank you. He’d had enough broken noses for a lifetime. He turned and walked away, ending up in the bakery he’d taken Gellert to.

He kept thinking about Gellert. Their talk that morning had been more than anything else. And where had he gone? Albus was trying not to intrude, but curiosity was a powerful thing. Not that he thought Gellert was up to something bad. They were past that stage, he hoped, but…

He decided to give him some time alone and find him later in the morning. Right now, was time for breakfast.

A waiter brought him some pastries and that got him thinking about their bet. Maybe this place had some recipe for cookies. That wasn’t _really_ cheating, was it?

\------------------

Gellert stomped out of the library. Hundreds of bookcases and a whole class called “Muggle Studies” and not _one_ cookbook. Unbelievable.

He decided to check the kitchens, and on his way there, he found Elena and Thomas.

“Good Morning, Mr. Grindelwald.” She smiled

“Hello, Elena, Thomas.”

“You look like you’re in a hurry. Did something happen?” asked Thomas

“No, nothing serious.” He paused, as a thought crossed his mind. “I don’t suppose either of you know anything about baking.”

“Thomas makes some great scones. He brought them for Christmas.”

“There’s not much to it, really. Are you trying to learn?”

“As a matter of fact, I am. Is there any way you can teach me how to do it without magic by… say, tonight?”

“Without magic? That’s tricky. I don’t know if I can do that.” The boy frowned.

“My parents are muggles, they taught me a thing or two. Maybe I can help.” Elena chimed in.

“Let’s give it a try then,” Thomas said as he sat in the nearest bench, “You might want to take some notes.”

Forty minutes later Gellert Grindelwald found himself with almost 50 centimetres of parchment scribbled with surprisingly useful instructions. He parted from the two children and decided to take a walk, feeling slightly better than he did that morning.

He thought about Albus (as if he thought of anything else these days) and soon found himself on the seventh floor, looking at a strange tapestry. He’d never been to this part of the castle before, so he studied it for a bit. He walked around, watching every detail, and just as he was turning to leave, he saw a door in the opposite wall. Gellert was sure that door hadn’t been there a few seconds ago. How interesting. And it was unlocked.

He walked inside and found himself in a completely empty room. Well, not completely. Something stood in the middle, covered in a curtain.

Gellert pulled down the curtain. To be fair, he hadn’t known it was a mirror. Maybe an old portrait? But no, he saw himself in a glance, and then Albus behind him.

He spun around, startled, but found himself alone in the room.

Taking a closer look, he realised it wasn’t quite himself in the mirror. The marks around his wrist were gone, and he twirled the elder wand in his right hand. Mirror Albus’ hands found their way around his waist, and on his right hand rested a ring with an obsidian black stone and a flowing mass of silver pooled around their feet.

The hallows.

Both of them had a glint in their eyes. Mirror Gellert’s left hand stroked Albus’ cheek, and he saw something glinting there, but before he could take a closer look…

“Quite something isn’t it?” someone said from the back of the room.

Gellert almost jumped:

“Albus, how long have you been here?” Merlin, he could _feel_ the red on his cheeks.

“Just walked in. Trough, I have been looking for you for some time. So, what do you see?”

“What?”

“In the mirror. I trust you figured it out.”

“The mirror of Erised.” He smirked “Shows your deepest, darkest desire. Quite the artefact, indeed. Though, you’ve always been partial to those.”

Albus shrugged and walked closer:

“Guilty.” He looked at Gellert, slightly tilting his head “Let me guess. You’re powerful, the master of death, with all the worshiping you could possibly want.”

Gellert looked back at the mirror. At his mirror image embracing Albus. _All the worshiping you could possibly want._ He wasn’t wrong.

Gellert elected not to answer, instead giving Albus a noncommittal smile:

“And you?”

\-------------------

He knew the question was coming. He set himself up for it. But it still felt like a punch in the stomach. For the first time since he entered the room, he glanced at the mirror. His reflection looked back at him, Gellert’s inched closer as the man at his side did the same. No changes what so ever. He decided to go around the question. A laugh never hurt anyone:

“Socks.”

Gellert’s eyebrows almost disappeared into his hair:

“Socks?”

“Yes, those fuzzy, woollen socks that make you feel like you’re walking on a pillow.”

“You’re a horrible liar, Albus.”

He looked at Gellert, looking as offended as he could trying not to give anything away:

“I’m telling you the most honest truth.”

“Of course.”

“Believe me, don’t believe me, suit yourself. But if I recall, we have a certain challenge to undergo.”

“Now?”

“Alright, after lunch, then.”

“There, that sounds better. Come on, I’m starving”

Albus raised an eyebrow

“I missed breakfast.”

They left the Room of Requirement and headed to the great hall. This time most people had already left, and only half the Gryffindor table had food, two plates gleaming in the candle light.

 Gellert looked at him, surprised.

“House elves are very helpful.”

They ate undisturbed. The table this time had more German dishes, half of which Albus couldn’t eve pronounce. He’d try to learn Gellert’s language during their summer together, and he _had_ been able to learn _some_ things, but it probably wasn’t very productive that his teacher kept kissing him every time he got a word right.

After lunch they headed down to the kitchens, and most of the house elves were gone. They had left some ingredients out, as Albus had requested.

“So, you think you can do this better than me?” Gellert asked him, leaning against the counter.

“I’m sure of it. or I wouldn’t have bet against you.” He smirked

“We shall see.”

Gellert pulled a length of parchment from his jacket pocket, and Albus couldn’t help but laugh.

“What?”

“I would accuse you of cheating but…” he pulled the baker’s recipe from his own pocket

“Great minds, I suppose.”

They got to work, and Albus enjoyed more than he was expecting. The feeling of making something without magic was… fulfilling. Maybe he should do this more often.

\-----------------

_This is easier than it looks._ Gellert was actually having fun. And he was also giving his best. Not just because of the prize (though Albus granting him a wish was perfect on its own), he wanted to wipe that self-satisfying smirk off Albus’ face.

He walked away from the counter. Something both Elena and Thomas seemed to agree on, was that chocolate chips made anything better, and after scouring for a bit, he found a bowl.

A few minutes later, they put the cookies in the oven, and cleaned everything. Albus didn’t seem to like that part very much, which made Gellert chuckle.

Albus stuck out his tongue at him, but ended up laughing again.

“What is it?”

“You have… A little chocolate, right there.”

“Where?”

“Just- over- Never mind.”

Albus moved closer and wiped his cheek. He didn’t have to do it. He also didn’t have to lick the chocolate from his finger. Or lick his lips afterwards, a gesture that Gellert subconsciously mimicked.

“You know, chocolate was a nice touch. I’m starting to think you’ll put up a fight in this.”

Gellert wanted to answer but found his throat to be completely dry. Luckily, the small mechanical timer rang. The phrase “saved by the bell” had never hit closer to home.

Albus smiled at him:

“Moment of truth, I believe.”

The cookies weren’t all salvageable. Some were burned underneath, other were just uncooked for some reason. But the few that survived didn’t look all that bad.

“You’d you look at that? We might actually be good at this.”

Each of them took a cookie and broke it in half. Gellert took a bite and he almost threw up. It felt like he was eating sand:

“Merlin’s beard! Albus, you had a recipe, how do you mess up a recipe?”

He looked up at Albus, who was currently staring at his half of the chocolate chip cookie as if it had personally offended him. He looked back at Gellert:

“A recipe? _You_ had a recipe! And chocolate! How do you make chocolate taste bad?”

“It cannot be that bad.” He took the cookie from Albus, and quickly regretted it. Clearly, baking wasn’t one of his strong suits.

Albus was smirking at him. The bastard. He took his wand from his sleeve and a napkin and two butterbeers appeared on the counter.

Gellert spit out the cookie and drank half the bottle in one gulp:

“You knew I’d do that.”

“One learns” Albus shrugged.

“So, this is a draw, I suppose.”

“Yes. So, we both win.”

“And we both owe eachother. Alright , I can work with that.”

“We need t get rid of these though” Albus pointed at the cookies “They are a health hazard.”

Gellert couldn’t help to laugh.

They left the kitchens and Spent the rest of the afternoon playing chess, talking, and eating proper chocolate chip cookies.

Not a bad day, in the end.

 


	11. Prized Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again, we're back for one more chapter, enjoy  
> My Tumblr : @thefantasticsuperouatgirl  
> Nina's Tumblr : @dreamerinthedark

Sunday morning was crisp and cold, with the sun shining for the first time in days. Gellert left his room to find Albus rummaging through the drawers in his office with a frown on his face.

 

“Morning.”

 

He turned abruptly:

 

“Oh, hello, Gellert.”

 

“Care to tell me what’s happening, or shall I try and guess?”

 

“Can’t find my scarf.” He threw over his shoulder before looking under the cabinets.

 

“Why do you need a scarf?”

 

“Well, I can’t very well go to the match without one, can I?”

 

“Match?”

 

“A-ha!” He emerged triumphant, holding a red and gold scarf with a roaring lion moving along the edge, “The Quidditch match. Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. I’m going to support my house, you should come too.”

 

“ I don’t have a house to support.”

 

“Cheer for Gryffindor.”

 

“I don’t know…”

 

“Do you want to come or not?”

 

“Alright, hang on.” Gellert grabbed his coat and followed Albus out the door.

 

They got to the field, and just as Gellert was about to complain about breakfast when he saw floating trays of food travelling up and down the seat rows. They sat under a red and gold tent. Not two minutes later, a pale man tapped Albus on the shoulder and took him aside. Gellert had seen the man exactly once: Armando Dippet, headmaster of Hogwarts.

 

The headmaster turned away from their seats, leaving Albus to face Gellert from the corner of his eye, and making sure he didn’t see whatever it was asking. It wasn’t all that hard to find out, though. Especially after he read Albus’ lips and found out his answer:

 

“I thought he might benefit from the good spirit and sportsmanship. He won’t do anything, he has no magic.” Albus finished with a sheepish smile, and the headmasters shoulders relaxed and he walked away, side eyeing Gellert, who purposefully showed his lined wrists.

 

Albus sat back down.

 

“You silver tongued sneaky bastard” Gellert murmured.

 

Albus leaned in with a smirk:

 

“Learned from the best.”

 

 

The game lasted for almost three hours, and Gellert found himself more invested in it than he was willing to admit. He clapped with the same amount of enthusiasm every time one of the teams scored. It was mostly to annoy Albus, but still he ended up on the edge of his seat as the two seekers raced for the snitch, sharing the general euphoria when Gryffindor caught it.

 

Given that they had spent the entire game nipping on the food from the flying trays, they traded lunch for a walk before returning to the office.

 

When they did go back, Gellert noticed something he hadn’t seen that morning. There was a glow coming from the wooden door cabinet. From the Pensieve.

 

Admittedly, he didn’t know much about Pensieves, but he was fairly certain that glow meant there was a memory in there. Curiosity got the best of him, but Albus was in the room.

 

Then an idea hit him.

 

He sat on an armchair, propping his feet up in one of the arms, as nonchalantly as possible:

 

“So, have you decided on your prize, yet?”

 

Albus, who was shrugging off his coat and setting his scarf on his desk (no wonder he lost it), turned to him:

 

“My prize?”

 

“Your wish.”

 

“As a matter of fact, I have. Have you?”

 

“I have.”

 

“Alright. Let’s hear it.” Albus sat down across from him.

 

“You first.”

 

“Together?”

 

“Alright. One,”

 

“Two,”

 

“Three”

 

“I want to look into the Pensieve.” said Gellert.

“I want you to come to my class.” Albus answered.

 

The ‘What?’ they both mouthed was as synchronized as their arched brows.

 

“The Pensieve?”

 

“I’m curious. You have a memory in there. I want to go poking around. But why a class?”

 

“You said it yourself.” He stated, grinning. “Curiosity.”

 

 “Hmm.”

 

“Well, go on ahead, the door isn’t locked.”

 

They got up and Albus opened the door. Inside, silvery swirls moved, ethereal.

 

Within the memory, it was sunny. Gellert looked around with a lump in his throat. He knew this place: Godric’s Hollow, midsummer, 1899.

 

Across them stood a young Albus, Gellert had forgotten how breath-taking Albus used to be (used to be? Who was he kidding, he hadn’t breathed right since their first walk around Hogwarts): His long auburn hair tucked behind his ear by an innocent yellow flower opposed the sly smirk playing on his lips and the mischievous glint in his eyes.

 

“The greater good?” Someone asked.

 

Gellert turned around to… himself. His seventeen-year-old self. Propped up on a stone wall, hands skimming his hair.

 

Young Gellert jumped down and walked to where Albus was leaning. He got closer and placed his hands on either side of the other boy, whispering in his ear:

 

“Albus, you’re a genius.”

 

The visible shudder from Albus made Gellert smile. He always loved when that happened. Though seeing his own shiver as the red-haired boy pulled him closer, snaking a hand along his lower back, put things into perspective. It was as if the world melted around their younger selves. It had always been like that, the two of them too lost in the moment to care about anything else.

 

The scene changed. Again that summer. The two of them lay on a roof. Not the most comfortable place to be, but the stars were always inspiring. Gellert heard his younger self plotting their rule. Funny, he always said we. Never, in his whole daydream did he even consider leaving Albus (or Albus leaving him). His own memory of why he had done it made him slightly uncomfortable. He looked at Albus. First his younger self, then the man beside him. His Albus, no matter how old and less idealistic he had become, was still…warm.

 

Yes, that was it. Warm, like fire. Albus was a complicated man, but in his core, he was fire: Sometimes as soft and comforting as golden embers, but on some days, in some small instances he was a wild fire, bold, dangerous and all consuming. Gellert found that he didn’t mind getting burned.

 

Once again, everything around them swirled into a new scene. This time, the sky was grey, and Gellert found himself in a naked room, a small steal bed in one corner, an old wardrobe, and a dirty window in the other.

 

A dark-haired boy sat with his head bowed. Albus approached him. A younger Albus, but not much, sat by the bed. Gellert wasn’t sure how he felt about the scene. He meant to ask Albus what this was about but he saw him looking at the boy, almost pained. He stood quiet, watching the events unfold. This boy, Tom, was somewhat worrying. Though it could be that Gellert was simply assuming. This kid didn’t seem to have it easy.

 

Albus got up and left the room, in time for Tom to tell him that he spoke to snakes. And Albus, ever appeasing, telling him that it wasn’t bad, just unusual. Fire or not, he was too trusting.

 

One more swirl, and they were at Hogwarts. Albus stood in the top of the stairs, alongside the headmaster, and Tom stood a few steps below. Gellert was almost run through by a stretcher being brought down the stairs. There was a girl in that stretcher. Dead. Albus looked at Tom warily. So, he did catch on.

 

The memory seemed to end. But the silence between the two men remained just as heavy.

 

After a few moments, Gellert finally spoke:

 

“So, the boy… How…Why…What’s the connection?”

 

Albus sat back down. Suddenly, he looked old. With his shoulders slouched, he looked up at Gellert, as if his question was a deadly poison:

 

“Tom Riddle. I’m worried about him. He reminds me of you.”

 

“And that’s bad?” Gellert arched his eyebrow.

 

“He reminds me of the worst parts of you, the persistence, the blind faith, the want for power. But with something more. He’s cold, he can’t care, he is not able to love or show compassion or he doesn’t want to. “

 

“You think he’s dangerous.”

 

“I think he’s ambitious, and I’m worried he acts upon that ambition. The last time anyone did something like that… “

 

“It was me, and it didn’t end very well.” The former dark wizard realized.

 

“Yes.”

 

Albus suddenly got up:

 

“I need to clear my head, I’ll be back in a few minutes, I’m just… I’ll be right back. “

 

He left. Quickly.

 

Maybe this hadn’t been a very good idea.

 

 


	12. Children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! How is everyone?  
> We are back with a chapter that I'm very proud of *pats herself on the back*  
> Thank you so much to Nina, the most amazing beta reader in the galaxy  
> Find me on tumblr @thefantasticsuperouatgirl  
> And her @dreamerinthedark

 

Albus roamed the halls for some time. He didn’t really feel like facing Gellert, though at some point, he had half a mind to send up dinner.

Tom Riddle was a complicated case. He was dangerous, no doubt. He had been since his youth, but Albus hadn’t realized just how much until his fifth year. 

He hadn’t stopped blaming himself to a fault for what had happened then. He’d been unable to stop a man’s rise to power once before, and as Gellert had put it, it hadn’t ended so well. He wouldn’t let it happen again.

Albus had been watching Gellert during his memories: His eyes trained on their younger selves, almost nostalgic. And when the memories of the orphanage showed up, he almost flinched. Gellert could tell how dangerous the boy was, even at a young age.

When they talked, however, it was as if Gellert could see right through him. White lies and care be damned, the truth was that Albus thought the boy could be useful in the future, and he’d ignored the warning signs from the very first day.

The way Gellert talked, the unspoken disapproval, it all made him think about another time, with Newt and Credence, two boys pulled into a war that was not theirs to fight, out of two men’s concepts of convenience.

Sometimes, he wasn’t sure which one of them could read minds.

\--------------------------------

It was only when a small elf brought Gellert his dinner that he realized Albus wasn’t coming back any time soon.

He ate his dinner without even tasting it properly and left the office, slamming the door behind him.

He walked around deserted halls for a while. Most students were having dinner, if the chatter coming from the Great Hall was anything to go by, so he decided to stay away from the hallways near it but ended up bumping into someone anyway.

Gellert was about to complain when he recognized curly dark hair and black and green robes under the torch light:

“Elena?”

The girl looked up to him and Gellert felt an overwhelming sense of sympathy wash over him. Her eyes, usually crinkled around a broad smile, were red and puffy, trails of tears stained her cheeks, and her hands were trembling.

“Elena, are you all right?”

He reached out and she stepped back:

“Don’t. Don’t touch me!”

“What is it? I’m not going to hurt you.” He raised his arms.

“Really?” All of her was shaking now, electric rage pouring from her eyes alongside tears. “Eve told me all about you, you know? She almost screamed when I told her your name. You- you killed all those people, all those muggles. People like my parents, like my brother. You’re a liar, you- you’re a monster.”

Gellert’s heart fell. The utter look of betrayal. The confusion. Elena’s expression reminded him of another little girl he had once known. Just a child. Another child that he had come to care for. And not unlike with Ariana, he had ruined everything. He took a deep breath:

“If I may…”

The girl seemed ready to interrupt him but decided against it, instead crossing her arms, and looking at him defiantly.

“I am all you accuse me… and more. I have done horrible things. I do not deny it. And if I had to go back, I swear to you, on everything I cherish that if I could go back…I wouldn’t do things the way I did.” It was surprisingly true.

Elena dropped her arms to her sides, seemingly surprised. Then her eyes hardened again:

“I don’t believe you.”

She turned away, leaving Gellert in the middle of the hallway to face this new truth on his own. What had moved him to say that he regretted his actions had been simple convenience, but now he had to admit, it wasn’t a lie. If he could go back, far back into that summer, and change everything from then on, knowing what he now knew… he might’ve done things a lot differently.

Gellert walked back to the office, feeling more lost than he cared to admit.

\-------------------------

Albus found himself in the astronomy tower. He liked it up there, it was quiet. And quiet always appeased him. He felt… uneasy. As if he was missing something. Perhaps it was merely the culminating of the last few months, finally breaching through and screaming _enough!_ But there was something else, he was nearly certain. Whatever was coming, it was dangerous. He resisted the urge to cast a _revelio_ as he felt millions of eyes upon him.

_You’re alone up here. Pull yourself together!_

A sudden burst of flames by the ledge made him wince slightly. From the fire emerged a golden red phoenix.

“Fawkes, my friend.”

The bird came to rest on Albus’ arm, and he smoothed his still warm feathers. Fawkes leaned in and made a noise between a soft purr and a chirp. Albus smiled.

Fawkes extended his claw and Albus removed the parchment tied to it.

It was a letter. From Newt Scamander.

Albus had lent him Fawkes (and received no little amount of complaints, and pecks) in research for his new book, and the first paragraph was a heart-warming thank you from the boy. No, not a boy, Albus reminded himself, not anymore. Newt was a happily married man, traveling the world with a child on the way. Despite all that the war (and Albus himself) had put him through, he was happy. Not all the parties involved could say the same. The face of a shy, dark haired boy, confused about who he was and where came from, came to Albus’ mind. Credence hadn’t made it out happy, Credence hadn’t made it out alive. The knot in his throat grew a little tighter.

He blinked away the small tears in his eyes and read the rest of the letter. It was the answer to Albus’ request from a few weeks earlier. Albus had promised Newt and himself that he would not ask anything after the war, but in all honesty, this wasn’t entirely for him. Newt wrote he’d be delighted to visit this Rubeus Hagrid boy and teach him as much about magical creatures as he could.

Albus took some comfort in the answer. Hagrid had no fault in his expulsion (unlike Albus), and as his self-appointed protector, Albus was trying everything he could to make it a bit more bearable.

During his brief time as the groundskeeper of Hogwarts, Hagrid had shown the undying love for unorthodox creatures. Every time someone dared to call them dangerous, he would frown in a manner rather reminiscent of a young Scamander, which had prompted Albus to suggest the meeting in the first place. He was sure Hagrid would be thrilled.

The momentary joy and the ever-healing presence of joy was almost enough to drown out the uneasiness. Almost.

\-----------------------

Gellert was pacing back and forward on the carpet when he heard the door click. A gold and red blur almost knocked him down before it flew up into a swift landing on top of his arm.

Fawkes.

The phoenix tilted his head at him, recognizing his old carer, and nuzzled the hand he offered.

“Hello, Fawkes, it’s been some time.”

Fawkes presence made his heart ease the slightest bit, enough to make Albus’ look less invasive.

The man in question closed the door behind him and waved his wand, summoning in a golden perch from his room. Fawkes flew to it and rested his head under his wing.

Albus sat on the armchair Gellert had been in only a few minutes earlier. Well, to say he _sat_ was a bit of a stretch. In all honesty, he sank into the armchair. The lines in his face were creased with worry, and Gellert had the feeling Albus was gathering up the courage to say something. Gellert leaned against the desk and waited silently.

Finally, Albus spoke:

“They were children, all of them. And we threw them into a war. Used them. Manipulated them. We set them against each other paying no mind to the consequences. When I met Tom, I… I saw the danger. And a small part of me told me to beware, but I thought… I thought I could change him…into something…”  
“Into an advantage.”

Albus nodded silently, without looking up at him. He continued:

“The connection you asked about… I wasn’t completely honest. It was more about me than it was about any of you… I knew you were dangerous, back then. I knew how far we could get, and how easily it could go wrong, but I wanted it, you, everything. So, I turned a blind eye.”

Gellert moved to sit across from Albus.

“I noticed my behaviour. I realized that I have the habit of doing that. Turning away from my worries in favour of my personal interests.”

Albus fell silent, and Gellert waited a bit before answering. He set a hand on Albus’ knee, reassuring:

“You made mistakes. We both did. And I believe it’s safe to say that we are not the best when it comes to young, impressionable minds. But whatever mistakes you’ve made, you can fix them, _we_ can fix them. And as far as fixing mistakes goes, you’re not all that bad at it. I’m the living proof.”

Albus’ gaze moved from his hands folded in his lap, to Gellert’s hand on his knee, and finally to Gellert’s eyes with a tired but warm look. He covered Gellert’s hand with his own, squeezing lightly. Gellert took the silent thanks and smiled back.

Albus got up:

“I think I’ll head to bed. Good night, Gellert.”

“Good night, Albus.”

Gellert retired to his room as well. Laying in the dark, looking up at the ceiling, he recalled all their casualties:

_Ariana, Credence, Newt, Tom, Elena_

 Together they had quite the count.

They ought to do something to fix that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it  
> thank you so much for all the kudos and comments, you guys are awesome!


	13. Class progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooo  
> Here's another one! Once again, the biggest thank you to Nina, who is an absolute angel, thank you for all the help <3  
> Also, a big thank you to everyone that has left kudos and comments, you make us so happy  
> find me on tumblr @thefantasticsuperouatgirl  
> and Nina @dreamerinthedark

Albus ruffled some papers on his desk, waiting for Gellert. He wasn’t really sure if their arrangement was still in place. He didn’t want to make Gellert uncomfortable, but after watching him tutor Elena and Thomas, Albus felt like Gellert could benefit from teaching, perhaps even turn it into a way to slowly redeem himself.

Still, maybe that wouldn’t happen just yet. Albus had decided to postpone this whole situation when a voice came from behind him:

“So, a class, huh? Let’s give it a try, shall we?” Smirked Gellert.

Albus couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

\------------------------

The transfiguration room was… interesting. With high windows and even higher ceilings, there was a lot of natural light, and the small step between the teacher’s desk and the rest of the classroom was enough to create a distinction without intimidating those on the lower side. Albus set his coat on a hanger and motioned Gellert to sit by his desk.

“Won’t you need it?” He asked.

“I rarely do” shrugged Albus. That said, he rolled up his shirt sleeves, opened the door with a flick of his wand and in walked a flock of 11-year-olds, their expressions varying between too-tired-to-function-properly-on-a-Monday-morning and excited-for-this-class.

On the way in, Albus had told him that most of the classes were split between houses. This would be for both Gryffindor and Slytherin. So, he wasn’t surprised to see Elena walk in, arm linked to another girl. As the girls sat, both looked up at him. Gellert found himself desperately wishing that Albus hadn’t gone to the back to fetch whatever it was he needed.

Gellert attempted a small smile, which, by the look on Elena’s face, failed miserably. The girl beside her looked between them with a curious expression, and whispered something to Elena, who waved her off.

Albus walked back in as the class took their seats:

“Good morning, everyone, to those of you who haven’t noticed, we have a visitor today. Frankly he’s here because he has nothing better to do, so pay him no mind.” Albus half-turned and _winked_. Gellert had to keep himself from gaping as he turned back and the small wave of whispers died out. He was truly in his element.

And he proved so over and over. For the following thirty minutes, Gellert watched, entranced, as Albus held everyone’s attention. After the theorical part was over, he placed a match in front of each student. Then, near the door, he looked at Gellert and announced:

“Unfortunately, I need to fetch something from the library, so I’ll leave you for a bit. Please try not to make anything explode while I’m gone.”

And he left. Just like that.

Gellert made a mental note to punch him in the face as twenty pairs of eyes turned to him as the implied meaning of the announcement sank in. _You’re in charge. Now what?_

Gellert put his feet up on the desk, and opened that morning’s edition of _The Daily Prophet_ :

“Have fun.”

Gradually the small whispers of spells mingled with regular recess chatter. Gellert wasn’t actually reading the paper. Just as he was sure Albus wasn’t halfway across the school. He was probably leaning against the door.

The problem was, Gellert wasn’t completely irresponsible, which meant he _was_ paying attention to the otherwise unsupervised children performing a new spell for the first time. (Merlin, it was going to be quite the punch). So, when a Gryffindor boy started looking anxious over whatever was going wrong, Gellert ended up putting down the paper and walking over to his desk:

“Hello, there.”

“Hi.” the boy said shyly.

“What’s your name, boy?”

“Leonard”

“Well, Leo, can I call you Leo?” Gellert tried to encourage.

The boy nodded.

“Well, Leo, you seem to be having a bit of a problem. Need any help?”

“I guess.”

“Alright, then.”

It was a lot more difficult to help someone practice magic without doing it yourself, but after some time, the match on Leo’s desk became a shiny needle, and Gellert felt strangely proud.

He got up, meaning to return to his paper, only to be called by a girl in the next row. That became a pattern.

After helping Alia, he managed to stop John from turning his desk into a pile of bricks, and helped Daisy undo the multiplying charm she had somehow managed to cast (again, not that easy without magic). After that, a small voice called him from the front row. The girl next to Elena (Amara, he later learned) had one of her arms raised, the other being mercilessly poked by her desk-mate.

He quickly left their side after helping her, though he managed to hear Amara huff out an exasperated “I’m sorry, but did you want me to do?”.

He managed not to sigh.

Albus finally walked back in. He concluded the lesson by asking every student to perform the spell. Gellert allowed himself to feel the smallest hint of pride as every student managed to do it correctly.

“Very well. Very well indeed. Alright, then. Class dismissed.”

He collected the needles and turned them back to matches before leaning on the desk beside Gellert.

“So?” Gellert leaned back in the chair.

“So, what?” asked Albus innocently.

“What did you need from the library so badly that you left me babysitting. “A guide on how to be subtle”, perhaps?” dared Gellert.

“I reckon you did quite well for yourself.”

“So, you _were_ watching.”

“I was.” admitted Albus “And speaking of which, I feel like I need to ask: Elena seemed upset with you, what happened?” he implored.

 “She was made aware of my prior ambitions. Needless to say, she wasn’t very happy. As I told you it would happen.” sight Gellert.

“I see.” Then Albus faltered. “Hold on, did you say ‘prior’?”

“I believe I did.” Gellert conceded.

“Prior. As in no longer in place?”

“Yes, the last time I checked that _was_ the definition, Albus.” the former dark wizard tried to tease.

“Oh, please do elaborate.” Albus asked, a not-quite-smile passing his lips.

“I realize that my way of doing things wasn't the best. I stand by my belief that living in secret is a disservice to everyone. However, the way I tried to fix it: By violence, by hurting people… I could have done things differently and… I regret it” confessed Gellert.

Albus blinked at him:

“Wow… Gellert that was… I'm glad you finally see that…. that was extremely mature of you.”

“I guess you're having an effect on me after all.”

Albus smiled almost sheepishly. 

 --------------------

“Well since we're being honest, I feel like I should tell you something,” began Albus. “Newt Scamander is coming over this afternoon.”

Gellert’s face fell, the small smile suddenly nowhere to be seen. He looked ahead, away from Albus, clenching his jaw for a fraction of a second before relaxing again. He looked up, a fake smile in a deceivingly calm expression.

“Any particular reason for his visit?” he questioned.

“Yes. A former student of mine has an unusual interest in magical creatures, he works as a groundskeeper since he was expelled… because of Tom.” answered Albus honestly.

Understanding dawned on Gellert’s face. _Ah_

“You feel guilty.” He stated.

“Partly, yes. The boy has never had an easy life, I'm trying to make amends to that.” explained Albus.

“Commendable. but does it _have_ to involve Scamander?” Gellert almost whined.

“I have never understood what you have against him.” Albus shook his head, wondering.

“He- you- he had me arrested,” Gellert held up his fingers counting “he stole my pendant,”

“He gave it to me-“ Albus interjected.

“He took down a significant part of my followers,” he continued his rant as if Albus hadn't said anything, “provided the idea of locking me up in my own castle, and I don't like his face.”

“His face? I don't believe there's anything wrong with his face.” laughed the older wizard.

Gellert’s eyebrows went up.

“But if it makes you feel any better, you're much prettier than he is,” Albus’ heart hammered in his chest as he looked Gellert up and down “all over.”

For a teasing comment it was a lot harder to deliver than it should have been but damn it he was _not_ blushing.

Gellert smirked before frowning again

“Does that mean you know how he looks all over?”

Albus couldn't help but sigh. _Are you kidding me?_

“For Merlin’s sake, Gellert, I'm trying to pay you a compliment.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“No, the answer is no. He was my student, for crying out loud, what kind of man do you think I am?”

“Alright, alright” he raised his hands in surrender “I apologize”

“So, I have another class in 20 minutes. Care to stay?”

“It depends, are you going to disappear in the middle of the class and leave me babysitting again?”

“I won't have to if you help me while I'm there.”

“You do realize that unless your classes consist solely of first years, your students _will_ know who I am, and they _will_ tell their parents that their transfiguration teacher has a former Dark Lord as an assistant.”

“Fine, then just help me carry some things. Next class is third year.”

\---------------------------

For the rest of the morning Gellert occupied the position of errand boy. It started out alright, but he soon became bored of his undignified task, fully aware that Albus could replace his service with a few flicks of his wand. He had to bite back a groan of frustration every time Albus turned to him. After a while, Albus seemed to pick up on that, but he also realized that Gellert wasn't really going anywhere. He was right, _Gellert had nothing better to do._ But Albus eventually left him alone.

So Gellert watched.

Over four hours with four different classes Gellert didn't stop watching, he watched as Albus captured the attention of his students, how he was playful with this teaching but strict when he had to. One thing Gellert always had in his mind was that teaching was rather difficult, teaching teenagers? That was an absolute _nightmare_. Nevertheless, since he first walked into the classroom that morning. Albus rose his voice exactly once, and it was surprisingly directed at Thomas Campbell.

The last class before lunch was split between first year Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and it was going rather smoothly until Mr. Campbell decided to charm his quill to take notes while he talked to his desk-mate about the prowess of the hollyhead harpies over the last season.

Albus called him once, twice, no answer:

 “Mr. Campbell, detention!”

That got the boy’s attention. He slowly looked up to find Albus with his arms crossed over his chest and an arched eyebrow:

“You have a free afternoon today, yes?”

The boy nodded:

“Not anymore, you'll be assisting my replacement in their classes until 5 o'clock.” 

“But-“

He held up his hand:

“I do not enjoy sending my students to detention, if your behavior improves by the end of this class, I might reconsider my decision, otherwise I'm sure Madam Pince would appreciate some help cataloguing the new books.” Albus voice broke no argument.

The class progressed swiftly. By the end Albus felt sorry for Thomas and ended up giving him one hour of assistant duty provided that he never did anything like that again and got a better mark on the next quiz.

After the boy left, Gellert turned to Albus with a smirk:

“Softie, I keep telling you.”

“Shut up, it's their only free afternoon and I was impressed that he could charm his quill.”

“Softie…”

Albus sighed:

“So, a replacement.”

“A young woman, Minerva McGonagall, she graduated last year, and I asked her if she wanted to take up an internship for a few weeks. She was one of my best students.”

“And you will be?” asked Gellert.

“With Hagrid.”

“And Scamander.”

“Yes.”

“I see.” Gellert scoffed.


	14. The visitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, again!!! First off, I want to apologize for two things: this chapter is smaller than the last few (but it seemed the right time to cut), and also, I am so so sorry that I haven't replied to your comments, they all make me so happy and glad that I'm doing this, and I havent had the time to answer any of them, but be sure that I am getting them, and that every single time I read one of them, I spend the rest of the day grinning like an idiot, so thank you to everyone leaving them, you are amazing  
> Also, a huge thank you to the ever patient and downright angelic Nina for putting up with this mess and fixing it so it actually looks nice. I would not have gotten this far without your help <3  
> Alright let's get down to this, shall we, i hope you enjoy ;-)

They had lunch together. It was nice. Afterwards, Albus suggested they play a game of chess, and the glint was coming back to Gellert’s eyes when someone knocked on the door. Albus opened the door to see Scamander smiling.   
He wore a long grey coat and his old house scarf with a small badger running around the end. He was older though: Small lines creased his face when he smiled, he held himself more surely, not hunching back into hiding. He was, lacking a better description, a true grown-up. But Albus noted with a smile that the boyish wonder hadn't left his eyes.

“Hello Newt.” 

“Hello professor.” he shook his hand. 

“Come on in, and please call me Albus, you haven't been my student in sometime.”

He turned to find that Gellert still surprisingly sat at the table.   
Albus was about to ask him if he wanted to join them, when Gellert looked him in the eye, tipped over his own king and walked into his room without a word. 

_Dramatic much?_

“Well then let me get my coat and let's go.” he said to Newt.

Albus closed the door behind them. 

“Professor?” Newt sounded concerned. In the last decade Dumbledore had heard that tone of voice a lot from Newt, especially after Paris.

“Hm?!” he said without looking his former student in the eye.

“Albus?” Newt sighed.

“Yes, Newt.” he answered lightly.

“I- do you- do you think it's a good idea?” 

“What is?” 

“Grindelwald. Here.” 

“Oh, that. I do, yes.” 

“Does it… does it have anything to do with you two…” Newt trailed off.

Albus stopped:

“I hope you're not implying I would place my students in danger over an old flame.”

“No, no- that's not-“ Newt hesitated then tried again “What I mean is Grindlewald is manipulative, he can trick people into caring for him, believing in him. He tricked Queenie, Credence…” His voice cracked. Maybe he wasn't as alright as he seemed.

Albus placed a hand on his shoulder: 

“Newt, there is nobody in this world that knows what Gellert is capable more than me, but I can also guarantee you that he is capable of good. I'm hoping to bring that out in him. I think I'm succeeding.”

Newt nodded and Albus decided to change the subject: 

“I noticed you brought your suitcase. Anything new in there?” 

“I thought I'd bring something interesting: I brought a niffler, some baby occamys, a very friendly jarvey, oh and pickett, of course.”

At the mention of his name the small bowtruckle peeked his head out of Newt’s jacket pocket. Albus smiled at the creature, who then crawled back into the jacket.

The talk from then on was on a slightly lighter tone. Newt told Albus all about his research and how he was happy Tina was helping him with it:

“I'm sorry you couldn't make it to the wedding.” 

“Really, I thought you'd be relieved.” 

“No, we wanted you there. If you hadn't sent me to New York all those years ago Tina and I have never met. Besides, we like you.” 

Albus gave him a small smile. 

They were at the edge of the forbidden forest, in front of a small stone cabin. Around it came a young man. With all of 17 Rubeus Hagrid was still taller than Albus, his long messy hair mixed with a frizzy beard. Hagrid put down a basket of small vegetables and walked towards them with a smile: 

“Professor Dumbledore, how ‘ve ye been?”

“I'm alright, Hagrid. And you, do you like the new job?” 

“I'm having fun! the little beasties in there just needed someone who understood ‘em.”

Besides him, Newt let out a small chuckle. Hagrid looked at him. 

“Hagrid, meet Newt Scamander, he's the man I told you about.” 

“Mr. Scamander, it’s great to meet ye.”

Albus stayed with them for some time. After Newt showed them the small cute creatures, he took them into the case to see a baby zowu, a manticore he’d found a few weeks earlier, and the latest addition, a Norwegian Ridgeback. Hagrid seemed quite enamored with the small dragon though it set Newt’s coat on fire when the man tried to feed him. 

When they came back out of the suitcase, the sun was already setting. Albus was suddenly hit with a wave of pure despair, just for a second and as suddenly as it came, it swiftly went away. He turned his attention back to the conversation between Newt and Hagrid when the latter asked him a question.

_It's just a weird feeling, nothing serious._

Albus wasn’t used to being wrong. But there is a first time for everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find us both on tumblr  
> Me: @thefantasticsuperouatgirl  
> Nina: @dreamerinthedark


	15. A rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there  
> So this chapter was a joint effort. Nina and I wrote it together and I'd say her part looks amazing  
> check out more of her stuff @dreamerinthedark and some of mine @thefantasticsuperouatgirl  
> Also, thank you so much for all the beautiful comments you leave, they warm my heart <3

Gellert wasn’t staring at Albus. He wasn’t even _looking_ at Albus. He had been, though. He’d been looking at the strange creatures that surrounded him and the two other men. But now he was more interested in the patterns the setting sun drew on the windows. However, he didn’t miss it when they crawled into Scamander’s suitcase. And the only reason he even noticed was because he was worried, not jealous. Gellert Grindelwald did not get jealous.

He turned his attention to the sketch on his lap. He was perched on his bedroom balcony, one leg dangling out into the scary height of the tower. He liked window ledges. They had a certain drama. He also liked drawing, for a different reason: drawing calmed him and not many things could do that. In fact, besides drawing, there was only one other: piano music, played by a specific person. But that was out of the question today, so he had sat on the ledge drawing.

He shifted his attention to the forbidden forest (away from Hagrid’s small house) and thought about drawing some of the creatures in it. Just as he did, something moved. Someone. Better put, someone apparated. He leaned a bit forward, curious.

The figure left the trees’ shade and removed their hood. Slick black hair cascaded down feminine shoulders, and they cast a Patronus charm.

A kit fox.

Gellert felt dizzy. _Vinda?_

Next to her,

more people apparated. Several of his acolytes, no doubt summoned by her message.

His acolytes. But they were in Nurmengard.

How did they get out?

_No, not how. The “how” is not important. Why?_

Suddenly it dawned on him. They had come to get him. And knowing some of the people that had came, it wasn’t going to be subtle.

_The students!_

He looked back at the suitcase. Albus hadn’t come back yet. And his “rescue party” had disappeared.

There was a quidditch game tonight. Most of the students would be having dinner early in order to see it. The great hall. Shit.

_Alright, calm down, what can you do? Think!_

He ordered himself to calm down as he rushed to the office. He couldn’t very well just get Albus, could he?

_Albus._

His gaze was drawn to the wooden door cabinet. Albus. Albus was a sentimental man. Albus was currently using the Elder Wand.

He opened the doors. Gellert had never considered himself a man of faith, but he found himself thanking every star in the sky when he found an old wand encased in black velvet.

His fingers burned when he held it. This wasn’t going to be pretty.

\--------

As he reached the stairs, there was already chaos all around him. The intruders hadn’t gone unnoticed for long. Teachers shouted orders to their students to get back to their dorms. Grindelwald weaved through the mass of panicking students, his destination clear in mind. The Great Hall. Nobody paid him any attention. Finally, he reached the Great Hall and his heart skipped a beat at what he saw.

Even through the teachers had managed to save most of the kids, they had been caught off guard. Now the professors stood at the entrance to the great hall. Mcgonagall’s eyes were murderous but even she didn’t dare to come closer. They had a standoff between the teachers and Grindelwald’s followers. The former dark lord recognized Vinda, Abernathy, MacDuff and even Gunnar Grimmson. The other three persons in the room he didn’t know.

They had gotten six students in total. Four boys and two girls. Grindelwald took a step forward. Nobody had noticed him yet; too caught up in the current situation. His hand felt like fire for holding onto his wand. Grindelwald ignored it.

“Alright, everybody stay calm. Nobody needs to get hurt over this.” Abernathy’s voice boomed in the almost empty hall.

“You know what we want”, continued Rosier now. Her wand was pointed at two young boys, kneeling before her. “Grindelwald for these children. Now.”

A girl struggled in Abernathy’s grip but he only tightened his hold on her and pressed his wand against her throat. “Let me go!” she cried.

In that moment Gellert got a clear look at the girl’s face. _No_. Elena.

He acted at once. “Stupor!” he yelled, the curse hit Abernathy in the face. For one second, Grindelwald wanted to drop his wand like hot coal. His arm felt like it had been hit by lightning. All eyes turned on him.

“Let the children go.” He said calmly, ignoring the pain in his arm.

“My Lord” Vinda began “This is your only chance to escape. We have spared no effort to free you.” She continued proudly. She didn’t lower her wand.

Gellert hesitated. This was a crossroad, he could feel it. There was a decision to be made and it was on him to choose which way to go. He could escape now. He could leave Hogwarts, Albus and all those damn feelings behind and never look back.

A few years ago, this wouldn’t even be a decision. His young, idealistic self wouldn’t have spared a thought on the children. Sacrifices had to be made. For the Greater Good. But now… Now, he thought about long afternoons studying with Elena and Thomas and about the wonder in the children’s eyes after they performed a spell right. Now he thought about Christmas and cookies and lemondrops. Now, the price seemed just too high.

“Come with us.” Vinda pleaded.

“No.” Gellert answered. Vanda looked taken aback for a moment then betrayed. Grindelwald conjured blue flames and instantly felt pain flash through his whole body. Momentarily he couldn’t breathe. The spell was powerful, he knew, but the pain grew exponential. They danced through the room, burning his former acolytes. They cried of pain and tried to escape the deadly fire. McGonagall attacked Vinda but the dark witch blocked the curse. Soon the two women were duelling. The students managed to get away from the dark wizards. The fire didn’t burn them.

Black spots appeared in Gellerts vision. The pain was growing with every flame and now it reached a level which was almost impossible to endure. The blue fire died down quickly. The pain became mind-numbing. He saw one of his “followers” raise a wand against him but Grindelwald couldn’t muster any magic to counter. He heard someone calling his name, green light filled his vision. And everything went black.


	16. After the fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there  
> Here's one more chapter, and we are getting close to the end of this story  
> Thank you so much to Nina for loving these two angsty dorks with me and helping me write a story that I am so proud of, and thank you to everyone leaving comments, you are absolutely fantastic ;-)  
> Find me on Tumblr @thefantasticsuperouatgirl  
> And Nina @dreamerinthedark

The first thing that Albus saw was that there was fire. The second was that it was blue, and it was burning in the great hall.

Blue fire.

That was _never_ good.

Albus was running Inside, wand in hand before his brain really caught up to him. He only noticed Newt and Hagrid beside him when they stopped by the door. A great part of his mind was divided between _get it together, who do you think did this?_ and Gellert’s voice playing in a loop: _I regret it_.

A thousand possible scenes flashed before his eyes. _No, it couldn’t be. Please Merlin, tell me Gellert hasn’t betrayed me._ He had begun to trust this man, once again. And now the students were in danger. They were thrown in a war that they had no business in. Like Credence, like Newt, Dumbledore had put them between two fronts.

It hurt to make the same mistakes again.

He pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the shred of reasoning he had left. He turned to the two men: 

“I need you two away from here, it's too dangerous.”

Newt took out his wand, raising an eyebrow.

“I don't think so.” he said firmly and it was only fair after everything Albus had put him through in the past.

“Fine.” sighed Albus. He shifted his attention towards Hagrid:

“But you stay out here and make sure nobody goes inside.”

Hagrid looked like he wanted to argue but he nodded with a decided “Aye professor”

Albus’ heart hammered in his chest as they walked into the Great Hall and it definitely stopped for a few seconds when he took in the shocking view:

Gellert stood back to back with some of the professors. There were children scurrying away from their captors’ grasp, said captors were currently being attacked… by their former leader. Dumbledore recognised some of Grindelwald’s most trusted advisors and fighters. Suddenly the pieces of a puzzle fell into place. With a mix of elation and horror Albus watched Gellert fire blue flames and countless spells at his former acolytes, his face scrunched up in pain, swirling lines burning his hands, his wrists, his neck.

Albus couldn’t imagine in how much pain his friend had to be in. How in the world could he endure this torture?

One of Grindelwald’s followers was stupid enough to fire a curse at Dumbledore, he blocked it without even sparing a glance back, making his way towards Gellert.

Newt followed him into the fight as the group started to split, each teacher busy with their own duel. Gellert was focused on someone in front of him. His face was twisted in pain and he fell to his knees, overwhelmed. Finally reaching him, Albus kneeled at his side as he heard someone utter the words. He matched the curse without thinking, two beams of green light met in the air.

Albus had cast the killing curse exactly once before in his life, curiously enough, in the presence of the man now underneath him. He diverted the spell, shattering the window behind the man and quickly conjuring steel ropes to bind him still. Around him the fight was dying down, the threat finally beaten.

He looked down, Gellert had his eyes closed, scarred line snaked across the skin in burning flesh, the rise and fall of his chest was faint, almost enough to go unnoticed.

Almost.

Newt came to kneel beside him:

“Merlin, is he-” the younger wizard looked concerned.

“No, not yet, I don't think so.” Albus choked out

“Well, then we need to get him to the Hospital Wing.”

Albus looked up at him. Newt seemed to understand his silent question, he placed a hand on his arm:

“Prof- Albus, I stand my point that Grindelwald is dangerous but he just risked his life for these children. I'm not going to let him die.”

Albus held Gellert and picked him up, the man's faint breath ghosting over the side of his neck. When the new matron, Madam Pomfrey, took a look at her next patient she pursed her lips into a thin line. Nevertheless, she pointed to a bed near one of the far windows and hurry to check on the others.

Albus was relieved to see that the most serious injuries were a few cuts and ill positioned bruises and most of them were on the teachers. The students seemed scared more than anything which in itself wasn't that good, but it certainly beat the alternative.

Someone tapped on his shoulder and Albus felt a sharp sting, he hadn't even notice before but his arm was bleeding, perhaps from a stray spell.

He looked up to find Minerva standing over him, an arm tied to her chest and a bandaged wrist:

“The headmaster called for a meeting in his office.”

He looked back at Gellert

“I'll stay here, you go and fix this mess.” Newt offered. Albus found himself nodding and leaving with Minerva.

For the following 30 minutes Albus listened to a thorough lecture on how it was his fault that the school had been attacked, how dangerous “that wretched man” was and how it was unacceptable for him to remain. None of the other professors talked either, leaving professor Dippett to entertain something between a speech and an angry monologue.

At one point Albus had to bite back a response along the lines of “funny how when a student dies at the hands of another there isn't nearly as much trouble” but he managed.

Finally, Minerva stood up:

Dippett glared at her and she straightened up, staring right back:

“Headmaster, everyone in this room knows the horror that Gellert Grindelwald brought to the wizarding world. I grew up hearing about it, living it. However, he risked his life today, he gave up the chance to escape in order to save the lives of the students. Fought against the very people he once led… there is a chance that he deserves an opportunity to explain himself. He is currently injured, unconscious. I would argue it is a good idea to keep him here, under close watch until we can decide properly.”

 “Anyone agrees?” Dippett sighed after a bit.

Albus raised his hand and watched the headmaster eyeroll turn into a frown as the rest of the faculty did the same.

 Dippett huffed and annoyed “fine” and dismissed them.

\----------------------

Outside the office, Minerva stopped him. Before he could thank her, she whispered:

“Professor what I did back there was a risk. I hope you understand that I took that risk because I trust you. I’ve always trusted you and I'm trusting you now, we all are. Don't make us regret it.”

“Minerva, I-”

“Just make sure you know what you're doing.”

He nodded, speechless and she walked away. Beneath the growing panic he felt a bit of pride at his former student.

\----------------------

The Hospital Wing was quieter when he walked in. There were small groups of people scattered around the room, playing cards, eating candy or simply talking in a hushed tone around the beds. The atmosphere was lighter though, less urgent.

On one corner Madam Pomfrey scurried around a bed mixing potions, casting spells with the audience of one Newt Scamander.

Albus must have seemed worse than he thought because Newt jumped from his seat and set a reassuring hand on his shoulder:

“He'll be alright. But Madam Pomfrey isn't sure when… he's still unconscious.” She informed him.

Albus nodded, his throat suddenly dry, and somehow had half a mind to send Newt on his way to talk to Tina.

After a moment, Madam Pomfrey stepped back. She was called by an older student before she could tell Albus anything more, so he ended up sitting at the foot of Gellert’s bed. 

Albus felt his heart tighten. Gellert’s shirt was slung across a chair and the true extent of his wounds was on display. The burning lines snaking across his torso and arms were now light scars stemming from the marks on his wrists and his collarbone.

_Marks you put there_. A voice mocked inside his head. His first thoughts had been that Gellert had betrayed him. He hadn’t even really entertained the possibility that Gellert needed to defend himself. Had Albus been faster… Had he arrived faster… His friend might be by his side now happy and well.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, the light changing around him in the patterns that Gellert liked so much to draw. He lost track of time, simply thinking about how things had changed, how they had changed, how maybe… maybe there was a chance this time. A chance that it wasn't all lost. That after they got through this, they could get through so much more.

Madam Pomfrey's soft voice broke him out of his trance. 

She told him something about resting and taking care of that arm and he noticed the swish of a wand before the faint stinging in his arm finally faded away.

After that, she unceremoniously kicked him out of the Hospital Wing, stating that whatever he could do he had done and there was no way he was staying the night there when he had classes to teach the day after.

He didn't really feel like he could teach anything.

He sat in the arm chair in his office staring at the fireplace. He didn't get up for dinner and he didn't notice when he fell asleep.


	17. (Not) Grieving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, we're back :-)  
> Thank you so much to Nina, for being the best beta reader alive, you are wonderful <3  
> find us both on tumblr:  
> Nina: @dreamerinthedark  
> Me: @thefantasticsuperouatgirl

Albus stirred awake. _There’s that noise again_

Right, someone was knocking.

He quickly got up, running a hand through his hair and trying to look somewhat woken up. On the other side of the wooden door stood Minerva McGonagall and Newt Scamander. Between the age gap and their other individual differences (and there were obviously a lot of them), they shouldn’t look so similar, but here they were: the same pitiful expression, the same careful gaze, the same fidgeting. Albus suddenly noticed Newt was holding something, a food tray. It smelled amazing, and his loud stomach loudly reminded him that he was starving. He was moved more than he decided to move, they both guided him to his desk and Newt told him he would stay around for some time if he didn’t mind as Minerva asked him for his class schedule and told him that she'd be perfectly available to cover most of his classes over the next few weeks or until he felt like he could go back to teaching them.

Newt said something about owling his brother and finding out when the aurors would come to Hogwarts because of course they would come at some point and they better be prepared to take care of that mess.

He couldn't help but smile at both of them (not that it was easy to, it was physically exhausting, but it felt good).

Before they left, Newt turned back and said with a smirk:

“By the way, Madam Pomfrey says that if you want to spend the rest of the day sitting by his bed you better bring your own chair because, and I quote: “the foot of the bed is just not going to do” he closed the door behind him and Albus took a deep breath.

This was a not going to be easy.

He ate in silence, processing what had happened over the last 24 hours: Gellert was unconscious, hurt because of Albus. There was something fundamentally wrong about that sense. Even when they had been in opposite sides of a war, Albus hadn't really hurt Gellert, and now that they were on the same side, he’d done harm that could be irreparable. The irony wasn't lost on him.

As requested, Albus conjured up a velvet armchair and as he sat by Gellert’s bed in the Hospital Wing he felt grateful for Newt and Minerva. He wasn't sure if the woman knew everything about his history with Gellert but Newt… Newt had known, maybe even from the beginning. He strongly disapproved and yet he’d been the first to give him space to…Not to grieve, Albus wasn't grieving, grief was for the dead and Gellert wasn't dead, he couldn't be, and he wouldn't if Albus had any say in the matter.

The morning was quiet, Albus watched as Madam Pomfrey took care of headaches and hallway hexes, sending students away with a stern look or a chocolate frog.

He brought a book, but his eyes were shifting between the pages and Gellert so often that it took him 10 minutes to read a full sentence. And then he heard the doors open, he jumped out of his chair as he heard Minerva's colorful protests mix with Pomfrey’s stern “What do you think you're doing?”

The curtain he’d drawn earlier was pulled back with a jerk.

On the other side stood Travers and a committee of aurors. The whole scene gave him a feeling of Déjà vu, at least Theseus and Leta had grown some sense and weren't here this time.

“What can I help you with, gentlemen?” Albus asked, his expression carefully neutral.

“We're taking him back to Nurmengard” Travers moved towards the bed and Albus stepped in front of him.

“I don't think so.” he answered coldly.

“Be glad we're not bringing you in as well, Dumbledore.” Travers hissed.

Albus straightened up:

“As I'm sure Madam Pomfrey told you when you politely allowed her to talk, the man in question is not only unconscious but in no condition to be removed from a medical environment and brought into a cell with very few health precautions.

Furthermore, the board of this school made the executive and legal decision to hold him here under medical observation. A decision in which you have no say in, regarding a matter in which you hold no authority. That said good, day gentlemen and please quit annoying these lovely ladies and allow them to return to their work.” Albus finished with a smile, that served mostly to mask a grimace, and sat back down.

Travers glared at him, and if looks could kill, he’d drop dead on the spot. But he knew Albus was right. Within school grounds, the teachers were in charge, not the ministry, even in this. So, they turned and left.

 “They barged into the classroom looking for you, I didn’t know that-“

“It’s alright, Minerva, no harm done.”

“Right. So, care for some lunch?”

“It’s already lunchtime?”

Both women nodded at him. That didn’t seem right. He looked back at Gellert. Madam Pomfrey set a hand reassuringly on his arm:

“The moment he wakes up, I’ll tell you” she smiled.

He smiled back and followed Minerva into the hallway. They almost bumped into a small group of students. He had to look a second time to recognise them: Elena, Thomas, a fifth year named Bianca, the McCauley twins, Milton and Ward, and a seventh year boy, Neil. The reason he had to look twice was because they were, and there was no other word for it, covered in gift baskets.

“We thought we’d bring Mr. Grindelwald a thank you, you know, for saving our lives and all.” Elena explained, “How is he?”

“I’m sorry, he hasn’t woken up yet.”

The girl’s smile faded:

“Oh.”

“But you can set it next to his bed, if I were him, I’d wake up for those cookies alone.”

The children laughed.

“Go on now, ask Madam Pomfrey for a place to put all that. And don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”

As he walked to the Great Hall, he thought about his reassurance to the children. 

Merlin, he hoped it were true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments, you guys are awesome <3


	18. Making Amends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so ,this is it. the last chapter. I can't even say how grateful I am to every single one of you who read this story, left kudos, or comments, from literary reviews to emoticons every one made us so so happy  
> Speaking of a collective us, not a hundredth of this could even be thought of without the most Amazing beta reader in existence, Nina, you are wonderful beyond mesure.  
> In Her very own words: I'm so proud we made it here!  
> I really am as well, so have at it, have fun ;-)

 

The first weeks melted into the first month and then into a second one. Albus slowly went back to teaching, Newt returned to his research, Minerva ended up liking teaching so much she requested a permanent position (that was happily granted) and after a few weeks of no positive answers the students involved in the “rescue” gave up asking about Gellert’s condition.

There was something different about being alone this time, and at the risk of sounding like a toddler throwing a tantrum, he didn't like it.

Knowing that if it wasn't for Albus, Gellert would be well: taking students to the library for a study session, drawing the thawing snow and the first flowers of spring, sitting by Albus while he played the piano or asking for a rematch at chess even when he'd won.

Albus gave up sleeping in his room. At one point he stopped using it all together, and for the first few days Madam Pomfrey tried to protest but eventually conceded.

Albus ended up spending most (if not all) of his free time by Gellert’s bed, and for some reason he started talking to him. Absolutely senseless, of course, Gellert couldn’t hear him, but Albus almost felt like he could. So, he told him about his day, about some interesting news read some books he felt Gellert would like, or sat and hummed a tune while he corrected his students’ work.

A certain Saturday, on the 64th day of Gellert’s unconsciousness, Albus came back from a quick dinner with a leather-bound book under his arm and sat back.

He’d found one of his old books in a cabinet. One he kept since what he could now admit had been the best summer of his life. Oscar Wilde's “The nightingale and the Rose” it was one of the first things he in Gellert had shared (even if they had both been surprised that they liked it so much, coming from a muggle writer).

From the first page fell a small flower, now dry and flakey, the golden-brown petals had once been fragrant and white, tucked into his head by deft fingers under the cold shade of an old oak on one of the first times he'd managed to convince Gellert to forget the Hallows for a few hours.

Madam Pomfrey left the hospital wing and waved him goodnight, leaving them alone. Albus opened the book and couldn't help but smile as he read the first few pages after setting the flower carefully on top of the bed covers.

When he was done, he closed the book. Being the only people left, the only source of light stood beside Albus: an old and rusty oil lamp.

The golden light made Gellert shine: he looked peaceful, as if only asleep. His face was half shadowed but the light accented his jaw, his cheek, his light hair and his… eyes. Mismatched eyes – dark brown and pale silver- wide open, staring at him. And then thin lips letting out a hoarse:

“Hello.”

\-------------------

Gellert felt like a broken radio, picking up pieces between irritating static. Except for him the static was a dark soundless void. He didn't know how long it had been since the attack, but he knew things had happened. He couldn't move, couldn’t open his eyes, and at times even breathing was a challenge. He could feel some things, though, and hear snippets, mostly about Albus.

Albus was like the right frequency (because of course he was) he heard bits and pieces and most of them involved Albus:

It started with hurry, someone holding him through the pain, the pain that mingled with understanding, a sense of finally not being afraid because this was it. The vision was over and then… then what? He was held, and healed, and tucked away on soft fabric that still itched a bit against his burning skin.

Later he heard Albus apologizing. Holding his hand and asking for forgiveness, and Gellert wanted to scream. Because how did he have any right not to forgive Albus.

Albus, who had hoped for the best even when he’d proven the worst. How could he not forgive the man… the man he loved. He could finally admit it, and he wanted to open his eyes and yell it at the world. But he couldn't, not yet.

And then the Aurors came, wanting to take him away back to Nurmengard, to a stone cold cell. And he didn't get scared, because Gellert Grindelwald did not get scared. And Albus spoke, sweet stubborn Albus laid so many bureaucracy and rules on the table that Gellert stayed right where he was (he was going to kiss him when he woke up just for that one).

From then on, Gellert started to make an effort to listen to Albus and it's almost like he knew: He started to read to him, to hum a few tunes, or simply talking about his day. He told him how the days were getting longer, how he would love the morning light on the damp leaves… It was (and there was really no other way to put it) cute.

He would hold his hand sometimes, and Gellert felt like the void changed colors, like everything shined.

And then he’d sat down next to him and read the first lines of “The Nightingale and the Rose”.

The void filled with images, memories of a sunny afternoon, of a hill and a river and an old oak, of Albus’ long red hair tangled with small things like flowers as he tilted his head back, dreaming about their future, moments before Gellert decided to silence him with a kiss and his expression changed to pleasant surprise.

It had been their first kiss. The first of many, and arguably one of the best.

The smell of small white flowers, the taste of Albus’ lips, the sun filtered through oak leaves, and Gellert opened his eyes. Finally, after so much time in the dark, he could see pale blue eyes and a surprised expression.

“Hello.” Simple, short, and with a slightly hoarse voice. But the smile blooming on Albus’ lips made all of that completely unimportant. 

\-----------------

“Gellert!” this couldn't be happening but Merlin he hoped it really was.

Gellert cleared his throat. Looking down, Albus cradled the small flower in his hand as a small smile grace his lips. He looked at the book:

“I've always liked that story.”

“I know.”

“How long has it been? How long was I here?”

“Two months.”

“Two… two months…”

“Yes, I'm afraid so… but Gellert… what you did, as far as I'm concerned, you're forgiven. You’ve changed. I truly believe you have.”

“As far as you’re concerned… I guess the Aurors didn't feel that way.”

“Not exactly. No.” He lowered his eyes.

Gellert lied back down, setting his head on the pillow, sighing and closing his eyes. Suddenly, he opened them again, a small smile and a look in his eyes that said he had an idea:

“What if I did something else, something more?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Tom. I'm talking about Tom. I want to help you take him down.”

 “Gellert… do you really mean that?”

“Of course, I do.”

Albus couldn't help it, he reached out and enveloped his old friend in a tight hug.

“Albus, Al, scars, hurt.” He protested.

“Oh, right, sorry.” Albus pulled back, but not far away. He was grinning:

“What made you change your mind?”

“I realized that I've been wasting my time, too much time, and I don't want to do that anymore.  So, if I'm going to start making amends, I better start from the top.”

He looked at him softly as his hand came to Albus’ chin and he slowly pulled him in for a kiss.

It was as if fireworks had gone off.

At last everything was back where it was supposed to be, every star lined in the night sky, every note in the right song and as he kissed Gellert slightly chapped lips and held his hand, fingers intertwined. Albus could finally say that the world was right.

They had done it. They were together again. Maybe not the kings of the world, but they were the most important thing that there could ever be for each other. A wildfire and a roaring ocean, somehow in sync. Making emends.

They pulled away, gasping for air. Lips red, hair ruffled and the biggest grin on both their faces. Gellert set the small flower on the bedside table and pulled back the covers:

“Get in here.” 

“Gellert, you are in no condition to-”

“Oh, eager are we? I simply meant that I'd like to sleep properly, and… well, I like to cuddle.”

Albus cheeks gained a red flush but he climbed on the bed. Gellert scooted closer and embraced him, and his hands found the blonde’s hips and the back of his neck.

“Sleep well, my darling.”

“You too, Liebling. “

And they did, better than they had in some time

 

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the end, or is it???  
> I'm thinking about doing a sequel, maybe hold Gellert against his offer  
> Leave a comment saying if you'd like that :-*


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